INDIANA -- Initially I started researching gambling on Indiana high school basketball as part of a larger project. With the major college basketball point shaving scandals that broke in the 1950’s, I simply assumed that there must have been some action on our great game. However, over the course of a year, I’ve really been able to turn up very little.
Considering how much attention Indiana high school basketball received in its golden age, I’m still extremely surprised by this fact. It could be on account that I’m simply piss-poor at research, or it could be Hoosier hysteria somehow just seemed to remain above the fray. Even though this topic missed on what I anticipated would be a rather substantial piece of Indiana high school basketball history, I still wanted to share what interesting tidbits I did uncover.
March 1946 Lafayette Journal
Police Chief Jessie McMurry ordered an end to all high school gambling. High school tourney pools were described as doing a “rush” of business and far outpacing the horse business.
December 1946 Richmond Palladium-Item
First mention of a proposed bill to punish gamblers who attempt to fix amateur games specifically making mention of high school games to be introduced in Indiana State LEgislature.
November 1948 Greenfield Daily Reporter
IHSAA Commissioner L.V. Phillips urged all state and local law enforcement officials to eliminate gambling at the high school level. His concern was expressed after the appearance of parlay cards listing 25 high school games to be played on a given night and offered odds on various contests.
November 1948 Greenfield Daily Reporter
Parlay cards discovered stating that if you take Shortridge over Greenfield, you must give one point, and if you prefer Madison against Batesville, you must cede 12 points.
January 1949 Kokomo Tribune
Judge Joseph Howard imposed a $500 fine on Harold A. Hair (43) who was said to have a large quantity of high school basketball parlay slips. Hair refused to say where he had obtained teh tickets.
January 1950 Richmond Palladium-Item
Richmond Police Chief Lucas Robe reports a “punch-board” gambling scheme. Participants bet a nickel to punch one of the hundreds of high school basketball teams printed on a big board. If a team advances to the State Finals, the better wins $5. If team wins the State Championship, the better is awarded an additional $15. The mayor and area high school principals, as well as local law enforcement, have pledged to ‘See these things being wiped out fast” and “get them out of circulation.”
March 1951 Terre Haute Star
Two Local Bookies Operate as Usual - Frequenters of two Wabash Avenue books said business was flourishing as usual yesterday after wire services were cut from Florida horse racing tracks. High school basketball tickets made up for the ponies’ losses.
I found several mentions of gambling arrests in a number of Indiana cities during the 1970’s and into the 1980’s. Mostly taking place in Evansville, Terre Haute, and Indy. However, I could find none of these that specifically mentioned gambling on high school games.
My personal experiences involved walking into a storefront in downtown Terre Haute (Wabash Ave) in 1989. I was shown a stack of parlay cards with various high school games printed on them for the upcoming weekend. $5 to play, pick three winners, and you get $20. Miss one and you were out in typical parlay format. On a recent return trip to Terre Haute, I found this place to no longer be in business.
