Betting
Wagering money on horse races is as old as the sport itself, but in the United Kingdom the links between horseracing and nationwide wagering are very strong. "Betting shops" are common sights in most towns, tending to be sited wherever a significant number of people with disposable cash can be expected. At one point in the 1970s it was said that the ideal location was "close to a pub, the Labour Exchange and the Post Office", the first being a source of customers in a good mood, the other two being sources of ready cash in the form of "The Dole" and state pension money, which was dispensed through Post Offices at the time.
Betting is taxed under the authority of various acts of Parliament, the revenue being collected by the Horserace Betting Levy Board, a "non-departmental public body" sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. According to the Board website, 90% of the tax raised by the levy is used for the improvement of horseracing, the rest presumably being absorbed by the Board's expenses. For the latest year reported, the levy resulted in £103.5 million being collected.
Member of Parliament Clement Freud, who himself had owned racehorses, alleged in an article published in the 1970s, before his election to Parliament, that horseracing was organized purely to generate taxes. He cited the large number of otherwise non-viable racecourses kept open (to ensure sufficient races being run) even as the financial rewards to the owners and trainers declined to the point where most could barely cover their expenses.
On 6 October 2001, the Government abolished the tax on betting, which had been 9% of the stake or the winnings, the punter having the choice to pay a certain small amount or an uncertain large amount. The tax is now effectively indirectly levied on the punters, the cost being absorbed in the odds that bookmakers offer.
The last 10 years in the UK, has seen massive growth in online gambling. Punters are now going online to place their bets, where technology gives them access to a greater wealth of information and knowledge. Now racing punters exchange information on online forums, tipping sites etc.
Read more about this topic: Horseracing In Great Britain
Famous quotes containing the word betting:
“All voting is a sort of gaming, like checkers or backgammon, with a slight moral tinge to it, a playing with right and wrong, with moral questions; and betting naturally accompanies it. The character of the voters is not staked. I cast my vote, perchance, as I think right; but I am not vitally concerned that right should prevail. I am willing to leave it to the majority.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“What is faith but a kind of betting or speculation after all? It should be, “I bet that my Redeemer liveth.””
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902)
“Courtroom—A place where Jesus Christ and Judas Iscariot would be equals, with the betting odds in favor of Judas.”
—H.L. (Henry Lewis)