Greyhound racing is popular the world over with at least 300 dog racing tracks in operation, including those in the United States, most countries in South America, Ireland, England, France, Italy and China. The greyhound dog racing handle in the United States today exceeds $800 million per year. Greyhound racing is permitted in nine states, Florida, Arkansas, Alabama, Colorado, Arizona, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Oregon and South Dakota. Florida, with its 17 dog tracks, leads all other states in race attendance and betting handle. The Derby Lane dog track in St. Petersburg, Florida, rates as the oldest in America, having been in operation since early 1925. Since the introduction of the mechanical rabbit, greyhound racing has become big business and as a result greyhound breeding has become an important industry in this country. Prices range from about $500 for unknown puppies to $25,000 or more for top racers. All major greyhound tracks operating in the United States use the pari-mutuel betting system. At most tracks there are 12 races a night, featuring daily doubles, exactas, quinielas, superfectas or Big E''s. (For explanations of these wagers, see page 39.) In addition to these, several Latin American countries use an imitation of Puerto Rico''s 5-6 pool in which a bettor or bettors picking 6 winners from the fourth through ninth races divide 75% of the pool, the remainder being distributed to those picking 4 or 5 winners. SCARNE''S ADVICE ON BETTING THE DOGS If you are one of the many thousands who go to the track to bet the dogs for fun, remember that you must pay for the privilege. If you want to keep the price down to what you can afford, here is a good system: Before leaving home, decide how much you want to spend (bet), add the track admission price, the price of a program, allowance for refreshments and price of transportation. Take this amount with you and no more, so that if you lose you won''t be tempted to recoup your losses and lose more than you planned. Then bet the favorite to show. Forget about win and place bets. I don''t say this advice will win you money, but it will cut down your losses. Always remember that when you pick a winner, you''re lucky; it isn''t good handicapping. Don''t forget that "you can beat a race, but not the races." BETTING ON JAI ALAI, THE WORLD''S FASTEST GAME Jai alai, regarded as the fastest online games in the world, originated in Spain from a form of handball played by the Basques more than 200 years ago. In Spain it is known as pelota vasca. Jai alai was first imported to this hemisphere by way of Cuba in 1900; today it is played in Spain, France, Italy, China, the Philippines, Mexico, Cuba and other Latin American countries. In 1935, Florida legalized jai alai with a parimutuel betting system. Jai alai was recently introduced at the M.G.M. Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. Jai alai is played with a basket hand covering (cesta) and a hardened goatskin covered virgin rubber ball (pelota) in an enclosed auditorium (fronton). The object of the free kid games is to throw the ball with such speed and spin that it rebounds into fair territory so that the opposition is unable to catch it either in the air or on the first bounce, or to return it to the back wall. The game can be played either single or doubles. The skill of the online games lies in placing the ball out of reach of the opposition, or imparting an incredible amount of spin on the ball so that the opposition cannot return it. Balls travel at speeds up to 150 miles per hour, making the game all action as the players must catch and throw without stopping the motion of their arms. Betting in Florida at jai alai is the same as pari-mutuel race betting: each player or team is given a number and wagers are taken on where the players will finish. In addition to the standard win, place and show betting there is exotic wagering. There are two daily doubles on the 3rd and 4th events and the l0th and 11th. There is quiniela and perfect''a wagering on each match. To win the quiniela the bettor must select the players of the teams that finish first and second in a given game. Either team may win, the other must finish second. Perfecta wagering is actually a quiniela in which the bettor must select the exact order of finish for the first two places. Payoffs can be high in the perfectas-a $1,314.60 perfecta was hit at Dania, Florida''s finest jai alai palace. $100 payoffs on the perfecta are common. The Big Q was introduced several years back and was an instant success. The trick is to wager $2 before the start of the first game on two teams you think will finish first and second. If they win you exchange your winning ticket at no additional cost for your choice of the win and place finishers in game two. If you''re a winner you can collect as much as $4,168.20 or as little as $171.80--those are the biggest and smallest Big Q payoffs at Dania, Florida, last season. One final note. Bet the favorite to show. Forget about the win, place, daily double, quiniela, pedecta and Big Q bets. I don''t say this advice will win money, but it will cut down your losses. BETTING ON ELECTIONS My survey shows that approximately $200 million is wagered annually with bookies on the outcome of national, state and local elections. The biggest single wager on record placed with a bookie was made by a racetrack owner when he took $1.2 million to $1 million that Richard Nixon would beat John F. Kennedy for the Presidency of the United States. This huge wager was placed with a dozen of the nation''s big time sports offices. The bookies'' price line in election betting is usually 6 to 5 Pick ''em. From then on the money wagered with the bookie has the price line jumping up and down. Most bookies act as their own price makers in election betting, so it''s most unusual for several bookies in the same area to have different price lines. They usually operate on a two-point spread as in the 40 line in baseball. In a Pick ''em contest, the bettor must lay the bookie odds of 6 to 5 no matter which candidate he puts his money on. When one candidate is so pronounced a favorite that his election is almost certain, the bookies use a vote differential in order to stimulate business. For example, a bookie in my home town of Fairview, New Jersey, will make Candidate Battaglia a 2,000-vote favorite over Candidate Reme for Mayor. The bookie will accept odds of 6 to 5 on either candidate, but Battaglia must win by at least 2,001 votes for his supporters to collect. A 2,000-vote majority by Battaglia is not considered a tie, and the bookie pockets all. Reme supporters win their bets if Battaglia wins by a 1,999-vote majority or less or if Reme is elected or ties. The bookie has an 8%% advantage riding for him. When you bet against a bookmaker in elections, you can win provided you have an edge in information that will overcome the bookie''s percentage. If you are aware, and the bookie isn''t, that a political leader who formerly supported Battaglia is going to switch his backing to Reme at the last minute and carry enough votes with him to cut Battaglia''s expected 2,000-vote majority down to 1,000, you have a solid bet that could beat the bookmaker. Because the vote differential in state and national elections often runs into hundreds of thousands the bookmakers have no bed of roses when they accept action on political elections.
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