11. slang
to secure oneself from loss over one bet by making others.
HEDGING, as a system of betting, is entirely dependent upon what happens
in the market after a horse has been backed. From information, or good
judgment, a backer selects, say, three horses, A, B, and C, whom he
thinks likely to advance in the betting, and takes 50 to 1—say £1000 to
£20—against each of them. As the race-day approaches the horse A may
fall out of the betting, from accident or other cause, and have to be
written off as a dead loss of £20. But the other two horses, as
anticipated, improve in public favour, and the backer, who now becomes a
HEDGER, succeeds in laying 5 to 1—say £500 to £100—against B, and 2 to
1—say 500 to £250—against C. The account then stands thus:—A is a
certain loss of £20; but if B wins, the HEDGER will receive £1000 and
pay £500; balance in favour, £500. If B loses, the HEDGER will receive
£100 and pay £20; balance in favour, £80. If C wins, the hedger will
receive £1000 and pay £500; balance in favour, £500. If C loses, the
HEDGER will receive £250 and pay £20; balance in favour, £230.
Deducting, then, the loss of £20 on A, the HEDGER’S winnings will be
considerable; and he cannot lose, providing his information or judgment
lead to the required result. It must be borne in mind that very often a
man who feels inclined to go in for a HEDGING speculation, may back half
a dozen horses, not one of which sees a short price or goes to the post;
besides which it must never be forgotten, that, however well turf
speculations may look on paper, they are subject to the contingency of
the bets being honourably paid on settling-day—the Monday after a
race—when unfortunately there are often more “receivers” than “payers”
at the clubs. However, turf transactions are among professionals
conducted at least as honourably as are any other business matters; and
it is only the fledgling swell, to whom the Legislature gives special
opportunities of losing his money, who is generally _non est_ when
paytime comes. “The Druid” in _Post and Paddock_ has remarked:—
“The term HEDGING has been quite superseded by “laying off;” and we
had, in fact, quite forgotten it till we saw it stated in the papers
lately, by a clergyman, who did not answer a question on doctrine as
the Bishop of Exeter exactly liked, that his lordship addressed him
to this effect: ‘You are HEDGING, sir; you are HEDGING!’”
Usually correct as “The Druid” was, he seems to have fallen into an
error here, as HEDGING, and “laying off,” have been exchangeable terms,
as far as the oldest turfite can say. It should be remembered that
HEDGING is generally done with the man who has originally laid the odds;
for as a natural consequence, when the backer finds it convenient to
hedge, the layer finds it equally so to back the horse back,—the first
loss being considered always the best by bookmakers who _are_
bookmakers. Besides which, the layer has generally a lot of “dead
money”—money to the good over horses he has laid against, which have
since been struck out—and this he profitably expends in backing certain
horses back for the purpose of levelling up the book.
Source: The Slang Dictionary, 1864