After a long period where wagers were simply made between ‘gentlemen’, in the late 19th century bookmakers began to make regular appearances on Australian race courses. Initially unregulated, in 1882 the Australian Jockey Club introduced registration fees and licensing for the rights to field. While the early bookmakers chose to field from wherever they felt was best on a day, the practise of standing from one location soon took hold, leading to the AJC in 1914 starting the process of conducting ballots to determine who was placed where, with options to field in the Paddock, the Leger or the Flat. The on course totalisator began operating in 1917 but this detracted little from overall bookmakers turnover and by 1930 there were over 400 bookmakers fielding at Randwick meetings. In the late 1940s the expanded use of standard betting boards led to the introduction of the ‘Rails’ and formal betting rings allowing punters to more easily see and compare prices. In the 1950s the betting public started to become more informed about form and odds and the with the formation of the TAB in the 1960s, the competition and reduced role of bookmakers saw their numbers start to decrease. In the early 1980s computerised boards were introduced and in the late 1980s, the Australian Prices Network began distributing ‘Official Prices’ from bookmakers throughout Australia. In the mid 1990s the internet revolution began with a number of online only bookmakers operating from the Northern Territory, leading to today where this is now the biggest market for wagering with a bookmaker. These ‘corporate bookmakers’ however are not always as accessible as the on course operators who still take on some of the biggest punters in the wagering industry. A BRIEF HISTORY OF BOOKMAKING
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