I had gambled for many years before I came to know why the favorite in a matchup was known as the "chalk". I'm sure it has occurred to many of us that it's a reference that predates computerized bookmaking, when odds were still posted by hand, with nothing more glamorous than a piece of chalk on a blackboard.
It's actually much older than we realize, dating back to the beginnings of wagering at horse tracks. As anyone who follows horses knows, the greatest amount of odds changes in a race generally occur on the horse the public favors to win. As more an more people wager on the favorite, the odds decrease in relative fashion.
When all of these odds changes had to be relayed to the public on a chalkboard, oftentimes the name of the favorite horse would be obscured by all the chalk dust created by the multiple erasures. Some bettors would approach the window near post time, and find themselves unable to read the favorite's name clearly, just referring to that horse as "chalk." It became an acceptable way to wager on the favorite, and thus was the genesis of a term we now use on a daily basis.
It's actually much older than we realize, dating back to the beginnings of wagering at horse tracks. As anyone who follows horses knows, the greatest amount of odds changes in a race generally occur on the horse the public favors to win. As more an more people wager on the favorite, the odds decrease in relative fashion.
When all of these odds changes had to be relayed to the public on a chalkboard, oftentimes the name of the favorite horse would be obscured by all the chalk dust created by the multiple erasures. Some bettors would approach the window near post time, and find themselves unable to read the favorite's name clearly, just referring to that horse as "chalk." It became an acceptable way to wager on the favorite, and thus was the genesis of a term we now use on a daily basis.
Nice Write-up
