Re(4): Long lines, back in the day Posted on June 28, 2026 at 03:26:42 PM by 40yrfan
My post began with "...in the days before self service terminals.." I failed to include the computer generated tickets punched out by clerks, a system that began only a couple of years before the SST's. Those computer generated tickets could include multiple wagers--daily doubles, quinielas, trifectas, etc, ON THE SAME TICKET. Yes, wagers could be removed from them providing they were done prior to the bettor leaving the window.
I worked the windows before those machines were introduced, using an AUTOTOTE machine. Each wager was printed on its own ticket. For example a 1/2, 3/6, 5/8, and 4/7 perfecta would be printed on 4 different tickets. Even boxing a 1,2,3 quiniela would result in 3 separate tickets: 1/2, 1/3, 2/3. If the better decided he did not want it the mutuals clerk could not erase it and was stuck with it. Two major manufacturers of these machines were Autotote and American Tote. Neither printed tickets that had any type of barcode that would allow
wagers to be canceled. I worked part time as a mutuals clerk in the 70's and 80's. I suspect that you are too young to have made wagers
in the 70's and 80's but I was not wrong in what I posted. Since you have not ever seen one I would suggest that you go EBAY and look up
Jai Alai para-mutual tickets 1980's to see what they looked like.
Tiger's Jai-Alai Chalk Talk
