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Thanks for the endorsement, Joe. Enjoying a lot of interaction with plenty of former betting shop punters elsewhere on this forum in the Lounge area – much of it around the ‘slow count’ fraudsters and how they operated.
As you rightly mention, both books are written from the POV of the day to day betting shop punter – and in Shouting The Odds, to avoid any potential backlash from do-gooders accusing me of glorifying betting, I reference Frankie Dettori’s Magnificent Seven in the closing chapters: the day many small time punters did profit from a highly unlikely and extraordinary occurrence.
The day that happened I was managing a Hills shop in the St Ann’s district of Nottingham – our safe and tills were soon empty. As for my personal punting that day, never have I felt so disappointed in myself in backing just three of Dettori’s shortest priced winning rides in an EW trixie. That’ll teach me for lacking imagination I thought to myself, when I collected my returns the following Monday.
To this day I still enjoy my betting, though almost exclusively on horses. To me, a small on-line multiple bet gives me a ‘vested interest’ like no other sport (perhaps with the exception of dog racing).
I allocate the same amount of ‘hard earnt’ each month and see how far it takes me. I’ve rarely subscribed to tipping lines – nothing worse to me that paying someone else to come up with selections, especially losing ones! During the rare profitable months/runs, I have disciplined myself to withdraw the majority of the winnings back into my bank.Some of my mates back home in the UK invest a certain amount per annum following their team. That is my attitude with betting. The one betting account I have out here in Sweden isn’t a profitable one – I’d have been closed down months ago otherwise – but it isn’t for want of trying!
What I do miss about my punting is exactly what I write about in the books – the community aspect of the way betting shops used to be. It will of course never return and looking forward, if Fred Done and the other major betting operators in the UK do start widespread closures, the books will before long fall under a new category or genre – modern British social history!
I really enjoy being a part of this forum – and spend more time reading peoples views on up and coming races that actually participating, which I ought to do more often. Racing in Sweden is dominated by harness racing, trotting – that’s the sport here that generates huge betting pools each weekend and while I respect that is what is enjoyed by the majority of bettors here, it isn’t for me.
Hi Salty,
I know what you mean, re. ‘grudging respect for’ … they operated in that grey area – having their money ready but taking their time to hand it over (depending on how their selection started the race ). The guys I encountered favoured dog races and 5f sprints for this purpose. In the end we got some help from the local police, till they moved on to target other branches.
At Hills, security would circulate fuzzy still photographs taken on internal cameras of the culprits – warning staff not to take bets off them. I had left Hills by the end of ’99 – what are the ”Steamer” bets you refer too?
Two regular punters I had in West London at the branch of Hills I managed, once asked me if they could have a plastic betting slip dispenser I was about to throw out one day – one of those we used to mount on the walls that had different shelves for the place pot and other multiple slips. These guys were brothers and lived in the same flat. Anyway, I said sure and gave it to them. They were chuffed – and apparently set it up in the kitchen they shared. I gave them a bunch of slips too, so they could fill in their bets over breakfast at home. I reckon they were slowly recreating a betting shop interior at home!
Cheers, Jon
Hi Salty,
– You clearly have some great memories of the way shops were, till the advent of the internet came along and changed things. I think you’ll relate to the characters I have written in Shouting The Odds – the good ones and the few bad eggs. I’ve written a slow count fraud into one of the early chapters – it’s based upon a real experience of mine when I was managing a Hills shop in Alperton, West London.
But the book celebrates the sense of community that was prevalent in betting shops, sadly gone by and large.
If you haven’t already bought it, the kindle costs less than the price of a 2 quid dual forecast and you can buy it here:
Be sure to get back to me about what you thought of it
Cheers,
Jon FranklinI have a theory that when the internet arrived, betting shop punters left in their droves to bet on-line with Betfair and elsewhere.
Shouting The Odds is a social history novel now, if anything! A walk down memory lane, best read and savoured with a cold beer or a good single malt – the way betting shops were in mid-90s Britain.
Best wishes,
Jon FranklinHi moehat –
Thanks for the reply. Yes, you can buy it via Amazon (link below ) – or via Waterstones if you prefer.
Thanks for the interest …You’re welcome, chestnut.
Remember Joe McNally? He wrote the Eddie Malloy series of racing books with Richard Pitman. as well as being a great writer, Joe is a top bloke and great advocate of my books. Below is a review he wrote about Shouting The Odds:
https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/25709494-book-review-of-my-debut-novel-shouting-the-odds-by-joe-mcnally-author
Thanks for the interest
Cheers
JonThank you, BigG –
Attached is a review Joe wrote of my first book, Shouting The Odds.
And the following link is to my author page on Amazon, with shorter reviews from the likes of Stan Hey (Aufwiedersehen, Pet), Dave Ord in the Sporting Life and Sam Hardy in the Racing Post.
Thanks for the interest!
Best, Jon Franklin
Morning all,
Below you find a link to a reel I have put out on Instagram.
My question to anyone who views it is can anyone name the racecourse where I shot the video clips?
By all means share it around with anyone.
I shall post the answer in a few days time!Hello, thank you for your comments. I agree with you re. X. When I released Shouting The Odds in 2021, I enjoyed a lot of really good exposure and sales through Twitter as it was then. Simon Nott latched on to it and the book received a lot of support from the likes of Carl Hinchy, good ol’ Joe McNally and several others.
Joe McNally has been a great supporter of mine and has offered endless advice re. placement of the books and so forth. I have got better with social media and get plenty of inter action on my Instagram account and lately in Facebook groups.
Thank you for the interest in my books – and if you do read them, be sure to get back to me with your thoughts.
Hi,
Funny that you mention Joe. Not only is he a great writer he is a top bloke too. We’ve corresponded with one another for a couple of years now. Below is a link to his review of Shouting The Odds:
Best wishes, Jon
Surprisingly you are the first person to ask me that! No, I’m not actually.
When I started at William Hill back in the nineties, one or two of my new colleagues did rib me about being a Franklin – suspecting that I would be fast tracked into management for a while before joining the Channel 4 racing team in some capacity!Alas this never happened.
Great to hear. I do hope you enjoy it. Nice way of keeping the racing theme to Christmas going after the King George meeting at Kempton! Be sure to leave some feedback here next year!
