Betting Act 1853
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1853 c. 119 |
| Year | 1853 |
(16 & 17 Vict.) C A P. CXIX.
[20th August 1853]
'WHEREAS a kind of Gaming has of late sprung up tending to the Injury and Demoralization of improvident Persons by the opening of Places called Betting Houses or Offices, and the receiving of Money in advance by the Owners or Occupiers of such Houses or Offices, or by other Persons acting on their Behalf, on their Promises to pay Money on Events of Horse Races and the like Contingencies:' For the Suppression thereof, be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, as follows:
I No House, &c. to be kept for Purpose of Owner or Occupier betting with other Persons.
I. No House, Office, Room, or other Place shall be opened, kept, or used for the Purpose of the Owner, Occupier, or Keeper thereof, or any Person using the same, or any Person procured or employed by or acting for or on behalf of such Owner, Occupier, or Keeper, or Person using the same, or of any Person having the Care or Management or in any Manner conducting the Business thereof betting with Persons resorting thereto; or for the Purpose of any Money or valuable Thing being received by or on behalf of such Owner, Occupier, Keeper, or Person as aforesaid as or for the Consideration for any Assurance, Undertaking, Promise, or Agreement, express or implied, to pay or give thereafter any Money or valuable Thing on any Event or Contingency of or relating to any Horse Race, or other Race, Fight, Game, Sport, or Exercise, or as or for the Consideration for securing the paying or giving by some other Person of any Money or valuable Thing on any such Event or Contingency as aforesaid; and every House, Office, Room, or other Place opened, kept, or used for the Purposes aforesaid, or any of them, is hereby declared to be a common Nuisance and contrary to Law.
II Betting Houses to be Gaming Houses within 8 & 9 Vict. c. 109.
II. Every House, Room, Office, or Place opened, kept, or used for the Purposes aforesaid, or any of them, shall be taken and deemed to be a common Gaming House within the Meaning of an Act of the Session holden in the Eighth and Ninth Years of Her Majesty, Chapter One hundred and nine, ‘to amend the Law concerning Games and Wagers.’
III Penalty on Owner or Occupier of Betting House.
III. Any Person who being the Owner or Occupier of any House, Office, Room, or other Place, or a Person using the same, shall open, keep, or use the same for the Purposes herein-before mentioned, or either of them; and any Person who being the Owner or Occupier of any House, Room, Office, or other Place shall knowingly and wilfully permit the same to be opened, kept, or used by any other Person for the Purposes aforesaid, or either of them; and any Person having the Care or Management of or in any Manner assisting in conducting the Business of any House, Office, Room, or Place opened, kept, or used for the Purposes aforesaid, or either of them, shall, on summary Conviction thereof before any Two Justices of the Peace, be liable to forfeit and pay such Penalty, not exceeding One hundred Pounds, as shall be adjudged by such Justices, and may be further adjudged by such Justices to pay such Costs attending such Conviction as to the said Justices shall seem reasonable; and on the Nonpayment of such Penalty and Costs, or in the first instance, if to the said Justices it shall seem fit, may be committed to the Common Gaol or House of Correction, with or without Hard Labour, for any Time not exceeding Six Calendar Months.
IV Penalty on Persons receiving Money on condition of paying Money on Event of any Bet.
IV. Any Person, being the Owner or Occupier of any House, Office, Room, or Place opened, kept, or used for the Purposes aforesaid, or either of them, or any Person acting for or on behalf of any such Owner or Occupier, or any Person having the Care or Management or in any Manner assisting in conducting the Business thereof, who shall receive, directly or indirectly, any Money or valuable Thing as a Deposit on any Bet on condition of paying any Sum of Money or other valuable Thing on the happening of any Event or Contingency of or relating to a Horse Race or any other Race, or any Fight, Game, Sport, or Exercise, or as or for the Consideration for any Assurance, Undertaking, Promise, or Agreement, express or implied, to pay or give thereafter any Money or valuable Thing on any such Event or Contingency, and any Person giving any Acknowledgment, Note, Security, or Draft on the Receipt of any Money or valuable Thing so paid or given as aforesaid purporting or intended to entitle the Bearer or any other Person to receive any Money or valuable Thing on the happening of any such Event or Contingency as aforesaid, shall, upon summary Conviction thereof before Two Justices of the Peace, forfeit and pay such Penalty, not exceeding Fifty Pounds, as shall be adjudged by such Justices, and may be further adjudged by such Justices to pay such Costs attending such Conviction as to the said Justices shall seem reasonable; and on the Nonpayment of such Penalty and...
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