Gambling through the ages – Part II

The Punter

By Jonathan Barker

Life as a punter in Australia has changed markedly over the years. Old-timers like to reminisce about the days of big plunges - training in private, picking off bookmakers in each ring, bookies prepared to lay a bet and not panic at the sight of a change on the prices screen.

Resources for punters were limited back in those days, and bookmakers loved it. Apart from basic formguides in the local press, punters were limited to what they heard on radio or saw in the flesh. There were no video replays to go back and examine the effect of interference or a jockey's decision made. There were no databases where you could link form lines from across the state. Selection systems based on tote variations and anomalies were decades away.

Punters had little protection as well - without the aid of professional stewards and video replays, horses were allegedly able to be pulled much easier. Mel Schumacher was caught in the 1961 AJC Derby, pulling the leg of rival Tommy Hill, enabling him to win the classic on Blue Era. It happened to be the first day of head-on camera footage at Randwick and Schumacher was banned for life. But how many others had gotten away with similar tactics over the years?

Bookmakers had a few rogues amongst their ranks as well. Scandals of fixing races have long plagued low standard events - but stopping hot favourites Bernborough in the 1946 Caulfield Cup and Big Philou in the 1969 Melbourne Cup meant that even the cream of Australian racing was not immune to corruption.

That's not to say punters never tried to fix races - names like George Freeman, Laurie Connell, John Gillespie and Robert Trimbole litter the historical file of infamy. Bad men attracted to the Sport of Kings with Machiavellian personalities. The beauty of racing is that it appeals to all types of people - unfortunately a few bad apples occasionally get in and take a few easily persuaded people with them.

Sophistication for punters in the post-war era was keeping a file of cards with race records, trackwork times etc. Mark Read started his career keeping data for his mother, a very keen punter in her time. You can still find enclosures for bookmakers near the finish post at many Australian tracks - a relic from days gone by when bookies not only called races to their clerks for future reference, and also layed odds in-running.

There was no protection for punters if a bookie ran out of money - one bookmaker at Flemington early in the 20th century tried to welsh out of paying. He was literally beaten to death by the angry mob. These days bookmakers have other options available to them, but that's not to say they all pay up. Leading Melbourne rails bookmaker Neville Clements went belly-up in the mid 90s and Adelaide's biggest bookmaker Curly Seal has taken eight months already to pay high-profile Sydney punters Eddie Hayson and Steve Fletcher several hundred thousand dollars won on a Queensland greyhound race. The punters' crime? Beating the bookmaker at his own game. Bookmakers betting TAB odds regularly crush a tote price to lower their payouts to punters. The bookmaker chose to have no payout limits and to allow any sized bet on an obscure race. So now he's crying like a baby to the authorities about paying out because Hayson & Fletcher manipulated the tote pools. Apparently only bookies are allowed to do that....

Don Scott and the Computer Group revolutionised punting in Australia in the 1970s. Harnessing the new technology and analysing data more effectively than anyone before them, the Computer Group put fear into bookmakers. Huge punters such as The Fireman and the 'Lady in Black' had come and gone, but with the aid of computers, punters were able to get an edge.

Mark Read and Dominic Beirne developed their own complex databases, analysing races from around the nation on different tracks and ground. No-one had previously been able to properly link form from Cairns to Caulfield or Fannie Bay to Flemington. This ability to process data and model races meant historical precedents and scientific performance progression added substance to what was largely instinctive previously.

Race replays were broadcast on television, the VCR was invented. Off-course betting became more and more common through TAB agencies and phone betting. As the TABs got bigger and the technology improved, approximate dividends could be broadcast, allowing punters to chase value between bookmakers and the TAB. It wasn't until Sky Channel began to entertain punters that the public was able to chase better dividends with interstate TABs. Punters could open accounts in different states and bet where they thought the value lay. More recently, we can even bet with corporate bookmakers in the Northern Territory offering Best Tote services, saving the effort of managing several accounts.

As TABs effectively took control of the racing industry, they demanded more events to bet on. Seven day racing was already commonplace, but the coverage soon became wall-to-wall across all codes. Anyone with hopes of being a half-serious punter couldn't keep up and many lost faith - the racing industry was becoming more and more like a poker machine churning out run-of-the-mill races from all corners of the nation. Race clubs got annoyed with it and eventually chose to go their own way. A lengthy contract dispute ensued between broadcasters and race clubs and unfortunately by the time the mess got sorted out, even more punters had given up on the racing industry.

For the mug punter though, this was manna from heaven. He could walk into a pub, watch races from all corner of the nation every three minutes and bet to his heart's content. We've all seen it - desperados blowing their pay packet on anything that moves, with a grand total of nine seconds of form study, making the TAB coffers bulge and giving the wowsers more ammunition in their declarations that gambling was the root of all evil. Did the government care? Not a chance! Having sold off every asset of value the states had in the 90s, governments were now addicted to the revenues from gambling taxes - they had very little left to cover the state budget.

Racing had begun to slide into the background when gambling became a wider form of entertainment. Not only had casinos and pokies bullied their way into the limelight, but sports betting had been legalised and was more appealing to the younger audience. Racing had an image problem of old men and inside information - sports betting was most often an A vs B contest. No big margins for the bookie or TAB to hide behind and you knew exactly what you were cheering for. After first being introduced to Australia in Darwin, Victoria got in on the act, allowing a handful of bookies at the racecourse and the TAB to bet on the then-VFL.

Today's punter now has more choice than ever. With betting available on almost every televised sporting event, race, or even reality television, anyone can have a go. So much to choose from and so much to lose on if you don't do your homework. In the internet age, you can find information for any betting event within seconds. If it's in another language, then use a translator site. Odds comparison sites to find the best prices. If you want to win, think like a bookmaker - where does the bookie want you to bet? Why do they push high-margin products such as multiples, correct score, trifectas etc? This is where bookies make their bread and butter, day in, day out.

The introduction of Betfair to the Australian market gives punters more chance of returning a long-term profit than ever before. Tight margins, the ability to lay - either one selection or all of them, the ability to trade a market with no interest in the final result, and probably most importantly for the average punter - detailed records outlining exactly where you are winning and where you are losing. Imagine a bookmaker telling you where your profits and losses were... never in a million years!

The betting scene is eternally evolving - what worked ten years ago probably doesn't work now, and what was successful a generation ago will have completely changed. With so many options of where to bet, when to bet and how to bet, there's no excuse for a punter these days who wants to make a go for it - but remember, always be looking to revise and improve your methods - evolution waits for nobody.

© 2006 Jonathan Barker