The Gobsmacked Bookmaker

My very first job was working in a bookmakers. It was a busy pitch and sometimes exciting. It was always rowdy and noisy. Imagine it... a bunch of punters screaming and shouting at the big screen for their horse or their dog or their team.

Every morning the boardsman would write up the racing fixtures and the odds and during the football season he would put up the football fixtures. Some of the punters were professional gamblers others were the sort that had an occasional flutter or who bet on their team religiously regardless of odds.

Bookies are canny people they know that punters (for the most part) will bet on anything - so for the most part all sporting events were covered and even a few things that had nothing to do with sport. Bookmakers offered the odds punters took them. Plenty of money was won and lost in my pitch.

Saturdays were always the busiest of days for the bookie on the days of a big match the livescore of matches would come over the intercom as well as the results for races at places like Haydock. Sometimes men would run between the pub and the bookies (the pitch was often next door to a pub) to check the race results and then run back to the pub to watch the match and sup their pints. Now livescores come in from so many mediums radio, television the internet...future betting and predicting of tournaments are fast ...maybe too fast to sup your pint!

I remember one man getting a big win when he bet that Pope John Paul 1 would only have a papacy that lasted 33 days. He sort of felt bad about his win considering the Pope had to die for him to win; but he was a flutterer as opposed to a real hardened gambler and it was lovely to see someone beating the bookie. My boss was gobsmacked that day and the man give me a £10.00 tip which was a really big tip then (half my wages)! Although they say the bookie always wins sometimes he does get gobsmacked.

That was the days before the internet. Now you can go online and check out all your match fixtures and the odds from a list of bookmakers across the country to get the best possible odds for a win. You can also place your bet from the comfort of your own home. No more trudging through all sorts of weather to place your bet. For the old timers there may be something of the atmosphere and bravado lost...but like all new ways it does seem to be catching on and if your a gambling man (or woman) you'll still get the buzz of a win (when you win).