“Tote Clubs”, Dog Tracks and Irish Sweepstake: Controversy and Compromise Over Popular Gambling in Interwar Britain
In Britain, paying upfront to place a bet on a horserace, or any other sporting event, was illegal until 1961. Although it lasted more than a century, this prohibition, frequently condemned as socially discriminatory, proved rapidly unenforceable. Large-scale networks of underground betting prospere...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SAES
2017-11-01
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| Series: | Angles |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journals.openedition.org/angles/1278 |
| _version_ | 1828312591992094720 |
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| author | Emmanuel Roudaut |
| author_facet | Emmanuel Roudaut |
| author_sort | Emmanuel Roudaut |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In Britain, paying upfront to place a bet on a horserace, or any other sporting event, was illegal until 1961. Although it lasted more than a century, this prohibition, frequently condemned as socially discriminatory, proved rapidly unenforceable. Large-scale networks of underground betting prospered, with attendant police corruption. The uneasy balance achieved by the combination of repression and implicit arrangements between lawbreakers and law enforcers was seriously disrupted by three simultaneous developments during the 1930s. The rapid growth of commercial greyhound racing and football pools, combined with the launching of an Irish lottery based on British horsing racing, was highly controversial and led to a tightening of betting laws in 1934. However, the very premises of prohibition were openly questioned during the parliamentary debate, in a context of economic depression and universal suffrage. Dissent came from both sides of the House and was extensively covered by the press. Moreover, some sections of the betting industry had improved their public image and increased their economic and political leverage, which enabled them to obtain significant concessions. Antigambling groups, once so influential, were now put on the defensive, although their moral concerns could occasionally converge with the economic interests of some sport-betting entrepreneurs. Thus, the rejection of a national lottery cleared the way for the expansion of football pools, which facilitated the continuation of the ban for another sixty years by providing a viable commercial alternative. Ostensibly, the compromise of the 1930s was the last great victory of anti-gambling agitation in Britain, but it dented a fragile and ambivalent status quo and sowed the seeds of the liberalising laws of the late twentieth century. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T16:18:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f9ef73abdeca46cb96cf37dec2aa7598 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2274-2042 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T16:18:39Z |
| publishDate | 2017-11-01 |
| publisher | SAES |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Angles |
| spelling | doaj.art-f9ef73abdeca46cb96cf37dec2aa75982022-12-22T02:40:00ZengSAESAngles2274-20422017-11-01510.4000/angles.1278“Tote Clubs”, Dog Tracks and Irish Sweepstake: Controversy and Compromise Over Popular Gambling in Interwar BritainEmmanuel RoudautIn Britain, paying upfront to place a bet on a horserace, or any other sporting event, was illegal until 1961. Although it lasted more than a century, this prohibition, frequently condemned as socially discriminatory, proved rapidly unenforceable. Large-scale networks of underground betting prospered, with attendant police corruption. The uneasy balance achieved by the combination of repression and implicit arrangements between lawbreakers and law enforcers was seriously disrupted by three simultaneous developments during the 1930s. The rapid growth of commercial greyhound racing and football pools, combined with the launching of an Irish lottery based on British horsing racing, was highly controversial and led to a tightening of betting laws in 1934. However, the very premises of prohibition were openly questioned during the parliamentary debate, in a context of economic depression and universal suffrage. Dissent came from both sides of the House and was extensively covered by the press. Moreover, some sections of the betting industry had improved their public image and increased their economic and political leverage, which enabled them to obtain significant concessions. Antigambling groups, once so influential, were now put on the defensive, although their moral concerns could occasionally converge with the economic interests of some sport-betting entrepreneurs. Thus, the rejection of a national lottery cleared the way for the expansion of football pools, which facilitated the continuation of the ban for another sixty years by providing a viable commercial alternative. Ostensibly, the compromise of the 1930s was the last great victory of anti-gambling agitation in Britain, but it dented a fragile and ambivalent status quo and sowed the seeds of the liberalising laws of the late twentieth century.http://journals.openedition.org/angles/1278lotteriesbettingsportsIrish Sweepstaketote clubsgreyhound racing |
| spellingShingle | Emmanuel Roudaut “Tote Clubs”, Dog Tracks and Irish Sweepstake: Controversy and Compromise Over Popular Gambling in Interwar Britain Angles lotteries betting sports Irish Sweepstake tote clubs greyhound racing |
| title | “Tote Clubs”, Dog Tracks and Irish Sweepstake: Controversy and Compromise Over Popular Gambling in Interwar Britain |
| title_full | “Tote Clubs”, Dog Tracks and Irish Sweepstake: Controversy and Compromise Over Popular Gambling in Interwar Britain |
| title_fullStr | “Tote Clubs”, Dog Tracks and Irish Sweepstake: Controversy and Compromise Over Popular Gambling in Interwar Britain |
| title_full_unstemmed | “Tote Clubs”, Dog Tracks and Irish Sweepstake: Controversy and Compromise Over Popular Gambling in Interwar Britain |
| title_short | “Tote Clubs”, Dog Tracks and Irish Sweepstake: Controversy and Compromise Over Popular Gambling in Interwar Britain |
| title_sort | tote clubs dog tracks and irish sweepstake controversy and compromise over popular gambling in interwar britain |
| topic | lotteries betting sports Irish Sweepstake tote clubs greyhound racing |
| url | http://journals.openedition.org/angles/1278 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT emmanuelroudaut toteclubsdogtracksandirishsweepstakecontroversyandcompromiseoverpopulargamblingininterwarbritain |