the totalisator
a day ago
- Gambling has become a primary engine in the software industry despite its unsavory history.
- Horse racing, with roots in 16th-century England, was the main venue for legal sports betting in the US until Murphy v. NCAA.
- Parimutuel betting, invented by Josep Oller, calculates payouts from a pool rather than fixed odds, making betting against other bettors.
- George Julius developed the first parallel automatic totalisator in 1913, a massive mechanical calculator for racetrack betting.
- The totalisator evolved from all-mechanical to electromechanical systems using relays and solenoids, then to computer-based systems in the 1960s.