Quote:
Originally Posted by ZippyChippy423
For years and years the only betting parimutuel tracks had was WPS and the DD. Why?
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There were extensive limitations on technology.
I have read a bit about how Caliente did the 5-10 (the prototype for the Pick Six) in the 1950's. Essentially they did it all by hand, placing tickets in baskets based on what horses were listed on them, and then narrowing the number of baskets and resorting after each race. They had ten or 15 employees working on the 5-10 exclusively.
Computers didn't start replacing totalisator machines (which were essentially mechanical adding machines linked together with wires and solenoids) until the mid-1960's. So anything more complicated than a daily double was basically impossible until then.
Further, computerized betting terminals didn't happen until my lifetime- the first one I saw was what I now know was an American Totalizator TM-300, in 1978 at Hollywood Park. Without computerized betting terminals, every combination needed to be printed on a separate ticket. Which led to stories like the one Andy Beyer told about the teller at Hialeah who patiently punched out 200 trifecta combinations for him, one by one. Hope nobody was in line behind him!!!!
Once the TM-300 came on line, it was only a couple of years before Marje Everett revived the 5-10, with the computers, as the Pick Six. And we were off and running.
