Barney Curley lived during the 1970s making him a contemporary gambler. Yet, given the new millennium it also makes him a historical figure in the world of betting. Barney Curley was a gambler on horses in Northern Ireland. He had a reputation as a horse trainer and fierce competitor. He was also considered a colourful man in the racing industry. Normally when you see a parent lose to gambling debts you want to stay far away from the business, but perhaps Curley had a lot of his father since he took up his habits of betting on races.
Curley is most famous for the 1975 scam he organised rather than any bets he wagered. It was the Yellow Sam Betting Coup that made him famous with a win of over 300,000 IR. As a sports betting scam Curley decided to use thoroughbred horse racing to gain the windfall of money. The horse he bought was Yellow Sam. This horse was known in the racing circles as one with an under-handicap, meaning it lacked true winning capabilities in the better races.
Knowing this, Barney Curley decided to place the horse in the Bellewstown race. There were actually many reasons for this. First off Yellow Sam would be in a National Hunt Race which was obscure in the horse racing world at the time. It was mostly a race filled with amateur jockeys where most of the horses had small handicaps.
Curley spent many weeks planning the win by finding individuals that would work with him. Additionally, he put the horse on other tracks where the conditions were not the best. It helped train the horse for the win. The day of the race put the horse at 20 to 1. The idea was to have small bets on Yellow Sam so that Curley could clean up at the track. If too much money was placed on Yellow Sam to win then Curley would not be able to win the money and the scam would have failed.
Bellewstown was not a place for communication. Rather it had one public telephone and no private lines. It meant that communications could be interrupted if anyone tried to place more money on the horse. Bookies were unable to make money off Yellow Sam because of this.
Curley had 15,000 pounds in the scam which was all he had at the time. Furthermore he had six or seven people on his side to make certain the scam would work. One of the guys on it took up an act on the phone in which he used an excuse of a dying aunt. Those waiting to use the phone bought it and left him with the phone for a half hour. This scam and one where he tried to raffle his house for 1.5 million pounds are what make Barney Curley one of the most famous men in gambling during the 1900s.