A man who plays a great part of the day and all the evening after dinner must certainly end by being a loser; whereas he who merely plays for a few minutes at a time has a very fair chance of ending up a winner, always provided, of course, that the fates are propitious. In the long run nothing is to be gained by making a toil of gaming, the only justifiable defence of which is that in moderation it affords a good deal of pleasurable though generally costly excitement. There are good methods of staking and bad methods; but there is not, and, so far as can be foreseen, never will be, a thoroughly reliable system. The best is that which minimises loss, acting as a check in the case of an unfavourable run. All complicated mathematical calculations undertaken with a view to defeating the bank are vain, for none of them take into consideration that most important and mysterious factor--_luck_--which so often seems to shun serious gamblers. "If I were resolved to win," said a lover of systems, "I should go very soberly with a hundred napoleons, and be content with winning one." "That would never do," was the reply of a player well versed in the fallacies of gamesters' calculations. "Better go, after a good dinner, with one napoleon, resolved to win a hundred." XI Difficulty of making money on the Turf--Big wins--Sporting tipsters and their methods--Jack Dickinson--"Black Ascots"--Billy Pierse--Anecdotes--Lord Glasgow--Lord George Bentinck--Lord Hastings--Heavy betting of the past--Charles II. founder of the English Turf--History of the latter--Anecdotes--Eclipse--Highflyer--The founder of Tattersall's--Old time racing--Fox--Lord Foley--Major Leeson--Councillor Lade--"Louse Pigott"--Hambletonian and Diamond--Mrs. Thornton match--Beginnings of the French Turf--Lord Henry Seymour--Longchamps--Mr. Mackenzie Grieves--Plaisanterie--Establishment of the Pari Mutuel in 1891--How the large profits are allocated--Conclusion. In the course of some remarks on racing made by Lord Rosebery at the 131st dinner of the Gimcrack Club he said:-- "I don't think any one need pursue the Turf with the idea of gain." This statement, though a discouraging one for sportsmen, is nothing more than the plain, unvarnished truth, as any one who cares to look into the matter can find out for himself. A quicker and more convincing method, open to those with plenty of funds, is to own race-horses. The Turf, as a means of making money, is indeed not to be considered seriously. Certain bookmakers, of course, have made, and do still make fortunes, but bookmaking cannot properly be called going on the Turf.