prior to 1961 and the gaming and betting act in the uk that allowed off-course betting shops, all betting on an up-front cash basis was restricted to the racecourses. however, betting on the basis of a previously agreed credit settlement between the bookmaker and the client was not, an arrangement that was appropriate to the planned clientele. iindeed, in his 1985 autobiography "the life and secrets of a professional punter" alex bird, renowned british professional horserace punter of the post-war 1940s and 50s, profiled both ladbrokes and mrs verney (as he called her) as follows …