Forum Archive : Tournaments

Calcutta auctions From:   David Moeser Address:   erasmus39@yahoo.com Date:   26 November 2001 Subject:   What is the origin of Calcutta auctions? Forum:   rec.games.backgammon Google:   Pine.GSO.4.33.0111261856190.6988-100000@shell1 On 26 Nov 2001 at 07:26:45 -0800, Roland Scheicher (roland underline scheicher at yahoo dot de) scribbled: ->At BG tournaments (but also at various poker and other tournaments) ->there are Calcutta auctions. Does anyone know something about their ->origins? The best description of Calcutta auctions I've found is in the Illustrated Encyclopedia of Billiards, 1993, by Mike Shamos. It says: "Calcutta: (colloq.) A pari-mutuel gambling arrangement in which odds are established by having bettors bid for the chance to win a pool should their selected player win the tournament. After deduction of a percentage for the promot- er, the pool is awarded to the bettors choosing the eventual top finishers. During the selection phase prior to the tour- nament, as each player's name comes up it is assigned to the highest bidder." "In most [U.S.] states, a Calcutta is illegal as a form of lottery or game of chance. This does little to diminish its popularity, however, since the authorities appear to take no interest in the practice. The Calcutta is the modern de- scendant of 'pool selling,' a notorious form of public bet- ting at billiard matches during the last half of the nine- teenth century." "Pool selling" presumably refers to betting pools, not pocket billiards (commonly called pool). Shamos goes on to note that such betting pool arrangements can be undermined by fixing of results among the players, which he labels as "a scam that still thrives today." -- >>>----------------------------------------------<<< >>> david moeser -- erasmus39 at yahoo dot com <<< >>> Censornati, Ohio - USA <<< >>>----------------------------------------------<<< * "Always take notes!" -- Gerard of Cremona * (Header info munged to foil spammers. Real info in sig lines.)   Did you find the information in this article useful?           Do you have any comments you'd like to add?

 

Tournaments

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