How about this service?

[andicap]

As I was taking a break from work -- OK procrastinating -- this morning I read a post about someone looking for automated betting software.

I wondered if there could be a business in there in making bets for people who are unable to do so close to posttime due to work, family, etc.
Obviously you can't get everyone's bet in a 2 minutes to post so the client would have to satisifed with getting odds at 5 minutes or so to post. That wouldn't work with short-odds horses but might with longshods whose odds tend to drift upward toward post-time.

So that begs the question. Would you pay someone (bonded, reliable, rabies and tetanus shots) to place bets for your within 5 minute of post time. The fee could be based on when you place the bet. The closer to post, the more you pay, but of course you pay nothing -- in fact you get DOUBLE your money back (or some % of the bet's value -- if the service is closed out and the horse wins.

The client specifics, "I want 6-1 odds at 4 minutes to post" and you place the bets and verify the odds through a software program.

This is always where Dave Schwartz comes in and tells me why this idea can't work. :D

Just an idle thought on a boring Monday.

[toetoe]

Great idea, but some kind of paper ticket would be required, no? :ThmbUp:

[twindouble]

Taking wagers on horse racing and profiting from it is Bookmaking and you can't make wagers from jail. :D

[shots]

Have a friend whose dad owned a bar. Some of his customers worked at the race track and gave him some hot tips. He would run bets out to the track for his regular customers, who wanted to bet some of these tips. He was just trying to be a nice guy and maybe make a bet for himself while he was at the track. Police were tiped off by someone, and a undercover operation was run. He lost his liquor license, and his bar. He was lucky to stay out of jail.

[kitts]

In my youth, I was a betting agent for two people and there was enough common trust to survive. I found out that if you carry paperwork to the track in your own handwriting indicating bets to be made, that is considered being a bookie in Southern California. Don't ask me how I know :o)

[GameTheory]

Here is a related question: can a corporation or a company place bets? Not for other individuals, but for itself as a profit-making business transaction/investment? Can a signer be cashed with a corporate federal tax id#, for instance? If so, and employees/shareholders in the company are later paid with the profits, have they gambled or just invested in a company?

Automated betting brings up interesting questions. If I set up my home computer to place bets for me, and then I go on vacation (say to a place that doesn't allow internet betting), am I breaking a law? Or let's say I go physically to England and gamble on Betfair. Certainly legal. What if I set up an auto betting machine in England, but I go home to the states while it does it thing am I now "betting from the U.S."? (If I called up a person in England to place bets for me, then I would be.)

These are the kind of stupid things that come up when you restrict freedom arbitrarily on "victimless" activities that have no business being illegal...

[njcurveball]

OK let's say I pay someone to make sure I get 5-1 odds at 2 minutes to post. Then I look in the charts and see my horse got beat at 2-1. How can I verify what the odds were at 2 minutes to post?

I know a long time ago Sports Eye had something like this in their charts, but what do you do when they have a late scratch or trouble loading or a horse runs off, etc?

Do you call 2 minutes to post at the scheduled time, even though there may be 10 or more minutes left to bet due to unforeseen circumstances?

Perhaps the money maker here is striking up a deal with the Computer departments at the racetracks to get an "odds chart" showing the odds at each minute interval.

As far as I know nothing like this is available today.

Jim

[andicap]

I believe you could do that through At the Races software program. It will save to disk the odds for the entire field at intervals that you dictate.
That's the least of the issues I guess.

Very interesting questions raised by all and I didn't know you could get busted for bookmaking even if you are not accepting the bets yourself but just getting a share of the winnings.

If you don't report the income the IRS can get you. If you do report it the vice squad will.

I'm sure the government is chasing those nasty bookies rather than the spies who want to blow up Grand Central.

(Relatedly in WWII the government gave jailed mobster Lucky Luciano a break-- he could run his crime empire from his cell -- because it felt he could guarantee the safety of our ports. Not saying that was a good idea but interesting history in terms of priorities of the government).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucky_Luciano#World_War_II

[skate]

tw;


you reminded me .

i once placed a bet on the tigers,world series, from a jail in brownsville tn.
just for laughs, i told the book, and had the jailer acknowledge the fact.

hey it helped pass the time

skate

[JustRalph]

Taking wagers on horse racing and profiting from it is Bookmaking and you can't make wagers from jail. :D

you have never been in jail in Ohio have you?

[shots]

You would also have to avoid the temptation to book the bets yourself. You would get some bets you just felt would be sure losers, and just bookem yourself.

[Murph]

Art Schlichter, 1983: The quarterback, a first-round draft pick of the Baltimore Colts in 1982, was suspended in 1983 and banned two years later by Commissioner Pete Rozelle for betting on NFL games. His admitted gambling addiction has led to his prosecution for more than 20 felonies including fraud and forgery, and he currently is incarcerated.
One of Mr. Schlichter's indiscretions including wagering with a bookie from his trustee common area phone while incarcerated in our local county jail on charges of check fraud. He would not quit gambling.

I had to google this up and found an article on the subject, written by Jay Vincent.

http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/opinion_columnists/article/0,2821,TCP_24463_4470286,00.html

Murph

[Handiman]

It was my understanding that with ATR, you could automate your bets to pinnacle. If so, then isn't this already possible for the average guy?


Handi

[Ron]

You can make wagers using a cell phone. I guess if you were in a remote location for work with your family, then the service would be useful.

Its not that important if I can't get a bet in. If it was, I wouldn't let my family or job get in the way.

[Ron]

tw;


you reminded me .

i once placed a bet on the tigers,world series, from a jail in brownsville tn.
just for laughs, i told the book, and had the jailer acknowledge the fact.

hey it helped pass the time

skate

How was jail, by the way?

[JPinMaryland]

The LUcky Luciano thing had to do with the invasion of Sicily as I recall, not the homeland ports. SIcily does make more sense, I guess.

WHich world series with the Tigers? 1968? That's the one where they came back down 3-1 vs Bob Gibson and the Cards. Stupid manager Mayo Smith had the pitcher (LOlich) bat in the bottom of the 8th, down 3-2 in Game 5. He came through with a hit and the Tigers scored 3 runs in the 8th to take game 5 and the next 2 games. I would guess the Cards were heavy favorites.

[andicap]

[QUOTE=JPinMaryland]The LUcky Luciano thing had to do with the invasion of Sicily as I recall, not the homeland ports. SIcily does make more sense, I guess.

QUOTE]

No, I'm pretty sure it was American ports because the mob controlled the longshoreman unions (Ever see "On the Waterfront?").

[Pace Cap'n]

I believe it was both.

[GaryG]

It seems to me Luciano blew up an American ship in NY harbor just to convince the govt that they needed his "services". I believe he was also trying to get his deportation rescinded.