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Did you stare at the speaker waiting for yours to make ‘rapid late headway’ only for there to be ‘Telephonic Interruptions’? http://www.simonnott.co.uk/index.php/tales-from-the-betting-shop-how-they-used-to-pay-racing-back-a-tales-from-the-betting-ring-lean-time-special/
How times have changed in the world of betting Simon,the old adage of the ‘Red chalk brigade’ still applies to fav backers but it was a Red marker pen on a white board that I recall.We depended on good commentators back then when it was sound only,I cant imagine having a bet on a race nowadays without visual images.Anytime I wanted an Ante-Post wager the Cashier had to make a phone call and I can remember seeing a fare few bets taken during the race itself after ‘the off’.Doctoring betting slips was another little trick back then too.I bet there’s a few Bookmaker Managers could tell some stories from those days too.
It could be excruciating to listen to the tannoy in the shop when you had your wages on and yours wasn’t mentioned until the last furlong. And then the dreaded ‘they’ve gone past together’ followed by the, often quite long, wait for the result.
Can anyone remember when betting shops got TVs ?
I’m almost certain that I nipped out from work to go to the betting shop to watch Slip Anchor win the Derby ?
Would betting shops have shown the racing that was on BBC or ITV/C4 ? even if they had no dedicated TV Racing Service
I also remember betting shops putting the Morning Advertiser on the walls ……….it was the daily newspaper of the Licensed Victuallers Association
I remember the Extel commentator who must surely have backed Beech Road on the day he was commentating on the future Champion Hurdle winner.
Approaching the final flight the commentator was in fine tune, waxing away that “Beech Road is clear of his field and he only has to jump the last flight to collect”
However, instead of the weary worn cliche that would normally follow such a lead up, i.e. “He’s up and over safely” we were treated to a delay of deafening silence, before an ill disguised disgusted statement of disbelief and the words “FALLEN AT THE LAST, BEECH ROAD” gave you the feeling that the “silence” that had filled the previous few seconds was probably a pressing of the mute button, whilst a volley of expletives was fired across the Extel studio causing a couple of passing Nuns to faint in the background.
On another occasion the Extel man was premature with the “He’s up and over safely” final flight cliche. The horse involved was The Demon Barber and the lad stood across from me had had a thick bet on the horse. As he heard the words “Up and over safely” he raised his arms in exultation but just as his non-Right Guarded sweaty armpits were revealed to the customers, the Extel man added the bad news “He’s slipped on landing and he’s down”
Our intrepid punter took the revelation badly “Up and over safely my ****ing arse”, the betting slip was crumpled up and tossed over the shoulder, while the tiny bookies pencil was sent darting off the loudspeaker, as if somehow it could act like a voodoo doll proxy for the Extel man. The guy exited the shop with the simple, one word, of four letters in length and beginning with the letter C. It wasn’t Crap by the way!
The good old days.
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
Can anyone remember when betting shops got TVs ?
I’m almost certain that I nipped out from work to go to the betting shop to watch Slip Anchor win the Derby ?
Would betting shops have shown the racing that was on BBC or ITV/C4 ? even if they had no dedicated TV Racing Service
Gambling Legislation was relaxed sometime in the mid-80s, permitting TVs, soft drinks, air freshener and seating somewhat more easy on the bum than a wooden stool so Slip Anchor might have been seen rather than heard
Don’t recall if SIS was introduced to coincide with the launch of Bookie TV or appeared a little later
Bill the Boardman with his ever-present Player’s No.6, felt tip pens, damp jay cloth and canny advice to bet anything Piggott was riding
Ah, when the world was young and life was simple…
I grew up waiting outside bookies late 70s early 80s. Staring through the coloured tassles hanging down on the door. Some were so smokey you could hardly see what was going on in there.
Even though most blokes who walked out looked miserable and pissed off, as a kid it seemed something good was going on in there.In the holidays we only went to seaside towns that had at least one betting shop.
According to this TV was allowed in 1986: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betting_shop
I've stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains
I've walked and I crawled on six crooked highwaysAccording to this TV was allowed in 1986: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betting_shop
I can vouch for that as I watched Dancing Brave win the Craven stakes in one,although I got it in my head that I watched him win his maiden at Sandown in Oct 85 too…Geezus,still seems like yesterday that Greville Starkey rode the worse race known to man in the 86 Derby.
I bet you can still smell the smoke that filled the shop TAPK….!!
Gaelic Warrior Gold Cup Winner 2026
Aye, Legislation in 1986. SiS was launched in 1987. I joined them in 1988 as sales & marketing manager for Scotland. I was useless at sales but that didn’t matter as one prominent Scottish independent bookie put it to me – ‘That’s like being a salesman for oxygen.’
As SiS had to work with BT to get planning permission for satellite dishes which were up to 3m in diameter, and also rely on BT to do the installation, you can imagine the frustrations, for us, but mostly for the bookies. There were many more independents in those days. Areas were switched on to SiS live racing in ‘cells’ usually based on postcode. This invariably left one or two bookmakers who were just outside the postcode but might be only fifty yards away from a live competitor understandably apoplectic. The worst cases lost their whole business simply through the bad luck of being, say, part of a tenement building where every tenant had to sign a wayleave before a dish could be installed or a cable run across their property. BT rules, which in themselves were a nightmare. Such a business could be waiting a year behind competitors as property owners were sought then persuaded (often bribed) to sign wayleaves. In such extreme cases the bookie would need to pay thousands to have an underground cable run. Even those weren’t available in all areas.
It one case where a bookie had been waiting ages, a BT surveyor finally turned up only to tell the bookie (and us) that the roof he needed to get onto was above 3m in height and his job position authorised him up to 3m only.
Coincidentally, I worked there with John Copland, pretty much nationally recognised as Extel’s best commentator with his rich, gravelly Scottish tones and superb technique for building (mostly fictitious) excitement. Anyone who was a regular in Scottish betting shops between the mid 60s and the mid 80s would, even now recognize John’s voice instantly, especially down a telephone line.
Happy days.
Aye, Legislation in 1986. SiS was launched in 1987. I joined them in 1988 as sales & marketing manager for Scotland.
It was early 1989 when we savages in Wick finally got switched on to SIS and live pictures. In those days we had a big dish on the roof of the building, something akin to those at Jodrell Bank it seemed at the time.
The policy then was that the services in the area would not be switched on until all shops had had their equipment installed. We had two shops in the town and the opposition to us was fitted out first, based on alphabetical order. He then harassed us every day in the belief that we were holding up his live pictures but we were totally at the behest of the SIS installers.
In the end, when the engineers arrived, one of them was Brian McClair’s Brother. Brian had played for Celtic and Manchester United. When his Brother spotted my Celtic scarf on the back of my chair he promised me the “Gold Service” and before he left, he revealed to me that all that was actually required to activate the pictures was to insert the Scart plug into the back of the main screen. Naturally we then had live pictures before our only competitor in the town. He was fit to be tied and the official “switch On” engineer from SIS was mystified that we already had pictures when he eventually arrived, explaining to his manager that “One of these guys must be a tech geek”.
Tech Geek? Sticking a Scart plug in a telly? Hardly Bill Gates stuff!
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
In the end, when the engineers arrived, one of them was Brian McClair’s Brother.
Paul McClair. Good guy. We worked out of the same office in Clyde Street, Glasgow.
In the end, when the engineers arrived, one of them was Brian McClair’s Brother.
Paul McClair. Good guy. We worked out of the same office in Clyde Street, Glasgow.
I think his gaffer was Brian Angel if I recall Joe.
The other Engineer was also named Paul, a short stature lad who my boss used to call “That wee shitebag”
What a professional bunch eh?
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
I remember them very well . The high window rule , if any ; and if there were , they were invariably blacked out as they were seen as dens of iniquity – smoke filled and corruptible .
Ah, the old , barely audible blower – an essential vehicle where we could imagine visions of the race unfolding – and where ” challenging close home ” actually meant the second horse was within 3 lengths as the winner won hard held , pulling up .
The hundreds of discarded bookies’ slips on the unswept floors . The old men ( never women ! ) in flat caps , putting their 5 Bob each way accumulator on . The chalk boards , prior to the introduction of felt tip – winner highlighted in red and previous odds wiped out with diaganol score , usually performed by one of the old , flat cap brigade , many of whom could still wax lyrical about Hyperion’s Derby win and Bahram’s Triple Crown .
I recall one particular day in 1977, rushing away early from work ( dodgy stomach or something
) , in order to catch the Champion Hurdle . As I approached the the green wooded hut , which doubled as an independent bookmakers , I could see about half a dozen men standing outside . As I hurried desperately to get in and place my bet , an outstretched hand stopped me with the words , no chance , whereupon I was promptly informed that it was choc-a – bloc inside . The cigarette smoke billowing from the doorway , accompanied by the incessant chattering , told its own truth .Anyhow , I took my place with those 6 men – and one other who had since arrived to find himself in our collective predicament – to hear , barely audible , Night Nurse being called home to win his second Champion Hurdle in a row .
Nice to look back on those halcyon days ( as some view them ) but we , the punters , have it so much better in 2017 than we did back then .
Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning
When did betting tax start…?
I know it finished late 90’s early 00’s use to put me off having to pay that, I’d rather take a even money bet off my mates about an odds on chance.Nice post Himself, enjoyed that, especially the bit about you not getting in…….
Gaelic Warrior Gold Cup Winner 2026
When did betting tax start…?
From the Encyclopedia of British Horse Racing:
I’d add that prior to the reduction to 9%, off-course ‘tax’ was 10% as far back as I can recall – circa the summer of 1973 when I really should have been revising for my O Levels not analysing Form in the Sporting Life
) , in order to catch the Champion Hurdle . As I approached the the green wooded hut , which doubled as an independent bookmakers , I could see about half a dozen men standing outside . As I hurried desperately to get in and place my bet , an outstretched hand stopped me with the words , no chance , whereupon I was promptly informed that it was choc-a – bloc inside . The cigarette smoke billowing from the doorway , accompanied by the incessant chattering , told its own truth .
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