If there were a Gamblers Hall of Fame, surely one of the inaugural inductees would have to be Melbourne Mick Bartley.
Even though he was a qualified electrician, Bartley had little use for wires, bolts, and ohms. In fact, he is credited with saying, “Never board something electronically designed to beat you.” A somewhat tongue-in-cheek statement from an electrician, but perhaps who better to know.
According to Bartley, he never went to school. Coming from a large family of nine, he used to sell empty beer bottles to raise money to gamble with the local SPs when he was a 10-year-old boy. Apparently, the moral and legal implications of this activity were not enough to discourage him from participating.
By the time he retired in 1977, he had amassed a considerable fortune. He is perhaps, among high rollers like Eric Connolly, Felipe Ysmael and Hollywood George Edser, the best to emulate aspiring gamblers. He wasn’t as colorful or flamboyant as these others, he dealt with punts in a very professional manner and was able to accept losses instead of chasing them to utter bankruptcy.
In addition to knowing when to pack it, it also helps to have a large bank. Barkley was helped in this regard by his 1960 Opera lottery prize, which earned him nearly $200,000. He claimed to have a system even for this type of betting, always buying 50 tickets at a time.
This concept of spreading his risks helped him develop a large and lucrative SP network with big businessmen and politicians as clients.
He was the mastermind behind the 1971 syndicate of a small group of gamblers taking the $400,000 top prize in Canberra winning as much as $265,000 for himself.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, it was established through audits that Melbourne Mick was betting close to $5 million annually through the TAB.
His arrival at the racecourse during his prime was typically accompanied by hordes of fans eager to see which horses Bartley intended to back so they could ride his coattails. Bookies trembled at his approach and other high rollers experienced considerable apprehension regarding the impact his moves would have on their odds.
This kind of attention was not conducive to Bartley getting the odds he wanted, so he often turned to agents to place his bets.
An excellent example of this tactic occurred when Bartley wanted to take a big step in a race at Randwick Racecourse. He devised a signal system with his agents, employing a red ladies’ umbrella. He had instructed them to wait until he opened the umbrella before placing any bets. Before the start of the race, Bartley’s horse went from 7-1 to 10-1, Bartley’s umbrella went up and his agents dropped the horse back to a 5-2 favourite. It was surely cause for comment to see a highly respected punter of Bartley’s stature carrying a woman’s umbrella, a red one, however, but Bartley’s horse won and brought him a substantial windfall.
Bartley was a value-seeking advocate. He tried whenever possible to find horses to fall back with greater odds than form would dictate. He was also adept at picking daily doubles which contributed substantially to his fortune.
Melbourne Mick Barkley’s story is certainly inspiring from the perspective of an impoverished boy who rises above all obstacles to succeed, but it could also be seen as educational from the point of view of how to control your emotions on the track, not chase losers and keep a calm head on your shoulders. He knew how to accept losses without letting them undermine his confidence. All bettors, regardless of bank size, would do well to study his example.