.

Depressing thread. I managed an LBO for 3 years and there were no 'characters' in my shop just the usual assortment of of ill-tempered**ts, smokey old men and addicts. I hated them all with a passion!

ttt

Whitey

Used to ride out every horse he backed that was going close, imagianary whip flailing while shouting 'COME ON (insert jockey's name, even if it wasn't being ridden by that jockey) GET YOUR SH!T TOGETHER YOU USELESS BASSTTAAAD'
One day after no winners and several near misses he threw a stool at the TV and got banned, A sad loss.

its like a bad smell

I like it.

Yes, definitely one of the best ever threads on here.

It's very strange how the naysayers like to have a pop at it.

New Years Day 1979. No horse racing. Dogs only. A relief cashier who I was seeing came round on her day off to visit me. I took her to the pub next door and we had a few large whiskies before the first race was off.She came out a bit the worse for wear so I took her back into the shop and she sat down out the back at my settling table and promptly threw up all over my neat pile of dog bets and Sporting Life marker sheet. Had a horrible afternoon picking through those soggy forecast doubles. No long term harm done . I later divorced my wife and married the cashier. She's cooking dinner as I write.

By the way the guy living under the flyover at Chiswick we talked about earlier on this thread is still living there. Must be over twenty years the crazy bstard.

owner of 5 london shops not known for his generosity took all his staff out to an indian restaurant on a christmas do, have what you like he told the staff, chamapgne flowed , brandies etc, bill for 25 of them came to £1300 went to the counter to pay and took out a bulging wallet.....





full of old betting slips. He passed them over one by one, £100 £200 £300 etc , till it came to £1300 then pulled out another £100 loser as the tip, told the owner he still owed him £500 and left.

I used to manage a small indy on a Saturday only. Tiny shop that did about 250 slips. Mainly early morning horse combinations and football bets. Little race by race action due to no Turf TV and it being a pretty disgusting place to hang about it. One Saturday, amongst the usual THREE race by race regulars, a young lad who fancied himself as a bit of a chancer, entered the shop and tried the usual late bets on dog and 'commentary only' races. After the third attempt, I told him that enough was enough and it was time that he left the premises and did not return. Upon hearing this, our punting hero flipped his lid and proceded to hurl a long stream of obscenities and threats at me. After the waster had run out of puff, I told him with raised voice to "JUST GET OU AND DON'T COME BACK AGAIN, YOU'RE BARRED!!". This is when the said punter really lost his rag and picked up one of the bamboo style chairs from around a plastic garden table in the middle of the shop and hurled it at the protective glass that separated myself behind the counter from the punters. Unfortunately, for our punting hero /**bag; the protective glass was bulletproof and the chair simply bounced off the glass and onto the threatening one himself knocking him to the floor. With myself and the three punters in the shop laughing out loud, this was then the cue for him to exit the shop in a very quiet and embarrassed manner. HE DID NOT RETURN.

superb thread...

a bitofinterest 01 Jan 23:22
i beg to disagree,and i wrote it

It's pantomime season....so...

OH NO YOU DIDN'T !!

Copyright problem, and has been quoted at £645 to publish it anyway.

.

It does indeed.

The Bookie

The story I'd like to tell is about a great encounter I had with a true legend "fearless" Freddie Williams. As far as I knew he never had a bookies shop but was a well known face at the northern & Scottish Tracks. As well as being famous for standing big bets at Cheltenham you could see him taking £2 bets off less wealthy clients at Shawfield dog track on many a night. No matter what the weather or what the track I always saw him wearing a shirt and tie under a long dark coat.

Anyway I was working for a Life Assurance company in Edinburgh at the time and someone in our office was getting married shortly so it was decided by the powers that be that an afternoon joly along the road to Musselburgh would be a suitable occasion to wish him well and have some good craic , beers n bets.

I had picked up a bit of a repuation for gambling and picking horses as i had nearly gone through the card at a doncaster meet which the bosses were attending with some clients & had asked me to provide tips for them.

So come the day of the meet I had prepared a sheet of paper with my tips for the 30 or so who were attending the racing.

As a lucky co-incidence when I had done my form overnight my bet of the day was a horse called "Bridal Path" and as we were at Musselburgh because of my mate Pauls up n coming wedding eveyone thought this was an omen.

So the racing kicks of and my tips don't do to bad 2 firsts & a third. Then the fourth race approaches and my bet of the day "Bridal Path" is about to run.

It opens at 6/1 but one of the guys spots that Freddie is going out on a limb at 8/1 the guys nearest him wade in, by the time I make it down I think I must have missed the price.

£50 Bridal Path says I. Freddie calls it into the book. I have got on and am pleased as punch.
"Freddie how can you stand at 8/1 when everyone else is 6/1."
He looks me in the eye and says
"Son if you've got the cash I can stand all day"

So the whole office is on with Freddie on Bridal Path at 8/1 the amounts ranged from a £5 to £100 but we reckon as a whole the office has put on somewhere in the region of £1500.

Well I can't remember too much else about the race but by god somehow bridal path got up on the line in between 3 or 4 others and won by a short head. Cue mass hysteria by me and my mates and I enter into office folklore.

We all formed an orderly cue as one after one Freddie grudgingly inspected the tickets through his glasses and with a sigh handed over the cash. I said "Freddie I hope you keep standing all day" and he says back to me " I hope you've got plenty of cash to make it worth my while"

We gave him some money back but most of us still had pockets bursting with notes

As were leaving to get the bus one of my pals walked through the now deserted ring and overhead a rails bookie asking freddie how his day had been.
He goes "I'd have been laughing if it wasn't for that fu kin bridal path!"

R.I.P. Freddie and thanks for the memories

The Bookie

The story I'd like to tell is about a great encounter I had with a true legend "fearless" Freddie Williams. As far as I knew he never had a bookies shop but was a well known face at the northern & Scottish Tracks. As well as being famous for standing big bets at Cheltenham you could see him taking £2 bets off less wealthy clients at Shawfield dog track on many a night. No matter what the weather or what the track I always saw him wearing a shirt and tie under a long dark coat.

Anyway I was working for a Life Assurance company in Edinburgh at the time and someone in our office was getting married shortly so it was decided by the powers that be that an afternoon joly along the road to Musselburgh would be a suitable occasion to wish him well and have some good craic , beers n bets.

I had picked up a bit of a repuation for gambling and picking horses as i had nearly gone through the card at a doncaster meet which the bosses were attending with some clients & had asked me to provide tips for them.

So come the day of the meet I had prepared a sheet of paper with my tips for the 30 or so who were attending the racing.

As a lucky co-incidence when I had done my form overnight my bet of the day was a horse called "Bridal Path" and as we were at Musselburgh because of my mate Pauls up n coming wedding eveyone thought this was an omen.

So the racing kicks of and my tips don't do to bad 2 firsts & a third. Then the fourth race approaches and my bet of the day "Bridal Path" is about to run.

It opens at 6/1 but one of the guys spots that Freddie is going out on a limb at 8/1 the guys nearest him wade in, by the time I make it down I think I must have missed the price.

£50 Bridal Path says I. Freddie calls it into the book. I have got on and am pleased as punch.
"Freddie how can you stand at 8/1 when everyone else is 6/1."
He looks me in the eye and says
"Son if you've got the cash I can stand all day"

So the whole office is on with Freddie on Bridal Path at 8/1 the amounts ranged from a £5 to £100 but we reckon as a whole the office has put on somewhere in the region of £1500.

Well I can't remember too much else about the race but by god somehow bridal path got up on the line in between 3 or 4 others and won by a short head. Cue mass hysteria by me and my mates and I enter into office folklore.

We all formed an orderly cue as one after one Freddie grudgingly inspected the tickets through his glasses and with a sigh handed over the cash. I said "Freddie I hope you keep standing all day" and he says back to me " I hope you've got plenty of cash to make it worth my while"

We gave him some money back but most of us still had pockets bursting with notes

As were leaving to get the bus one of my pals walked through the now deserted ring and overhead a rails bookie asking freddie how his day had been.
He goes "I'd have been laughing if it wasn't for that fu kin bridal path!"

R.I.P. Freddie and thanks for the memories

Good story clive but once is enough,

This thread was reproduced on another forum and it picked up about 20 new entries which I will start to post later.

I think I might make www.bettingshopcharacters.co.uk in honour of this thread.