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beertapper
11-23-2006, 05:06 PM
Does anyone know where the term betting the chalk came from? was it back when racebooks used blackboards? thanks for any history..
GaryG
11-23-2006, 05:47 PM
Yes, that is correct. The horse that was getting all the action would be the one whose odds kept dropping. So the "chalk" was the one that more chalk was used on.
kenwoodallpromos
11-23-2006, 10:18 PM
I understand that is the polite word for illegal bookies of yesteryear, who had chalkboards.
I guess the origin of the word "bookie" is the guy who takes the bets and records (books) them.
robert99
11-24-2006, 06:28 AM
Yes, it (bookies) came over from halcyon Colonial days when the bookie's clerk wrote down all the stakes and potential payouts into a ledger book. Horses often walked to the racecourses in those days and could take several weeks to arrive - so records for non runners and participants had to be good to avoid disputes from hazy, gin soaked memories when the race was eventually run. A whole new "slang" language came about to keep secrets from eavesdroppers etc.

http://www.triplecrowns.com/horse_racing/horseracing.html

http://www.mrmike.com/explore/hrhist.htm
kenwoodallpromos
11-24-2006, 12:13 PM
Yes, it (bookies) came over from halcyon Colonial days when the bookie's clerk wrote down all the stakes and potential payouts into a ledger book. Horses often walked to the racecourses in those days and could take several weeks to arrive - so records for non runners and participants had to be good to avoid disputes from hazy, gin soaked memories when the race was eventually run. A whole new "slang" language came about to keep secrets from eavesdroppers etc.

http://www.triplecrowns.com/horse_racing/horseracing.html

http://www.mrmike.com/explore/hrhist.htm
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Back then the horses WERE the transportation and got no free ride to the track!!LOL!!
robert99
11-25-2006, 05:21 PM
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Back then the horses WERE the transportation and got no free ride to the track!!LOL!!

Those were the cart horses - they also used canal network as well as cattle wagons. Hopefully, the thoroughbred stallions to the Colonies did not have to walk across the Atlantic and they remembered in time that the Pilgrim Fathers had used ships.