Statistical Aspects of the Legality of Gambling

SOME INTRODUCTORY COMMENTS 1. GAMBLING in clubs in England and Wales was first made legal by Betting and Act, 1960, provided certain conditions were fulfilled. This Act was consolidated in Betting, and Lotteries Act, 1963, without any apparent changes in wording of sections with which we are concerned, and all references below will refer to 1963 Act. The only relevant conditions on club gambling for present purposes are in Section 36(b) which enacts that apart from any annual subscription for membership of club, only other payment required for a person to take part in gaming (is) a sum of money determined before gaming (begins), and in Section 32(1) (b), which enacts that money or money's worth which any of players puts down as stakes, or pays by way of losses, or exchanges for tokens used in playing game, (can be) disposed of otherwise than by payment to a player as winnings. Gaming means the playing of a of chance for winnings in money or money's worth, according to Section 55, p. 47. The effect of this is that every must be a zero-sum game, that is to say, any money lost by one player must pass to other players. There is no percentage for bank, no cagnotte such as is customary abroad; and in particular no number such as zero on a roulette wheel which wins for bank against all players. The club which is acting as host can cover its expenses only by charging a fixed sum determined before gaming begins. 2. The interpretation of this provision has already led to difficulty. The basic problem is what constitutes a game. I do not mean game in generic sense, as when we say that of chess is played with 32 pieces, but what constitutes a particular specimen of a game. There are some (e.g. chess and bridge) which have a natural unit of duration. For others unit seems to be arbitrary and to require decision for each kind of game. For example, at billiards there is a natural agreed termination point which may be decided in terms of reaching a nominated score (e.g. a hundred up) or in terms of a specified time (e.g. half an hour at table). A few have a natural unit but confuse terminology by calling it something else: for example a rubber of bridge consists of two or three games and a set at tennis may run to any even number of games. It has been argued successfully in courts that natural unit for chemin-de-fer is exhaustion of shoe of six packs of cards, although a player may leave at any time. For roulette there is no unit other than a single spin of wheel. 3. The point is important because, as a general rule, clubs wish to charge a sum for each or for fixed-time periods and not, for example, for an evening's play of indefinite extent. A year or two ago one roulette proprietor got into trouble