The Spirit Of Cup Match

On the Thursday and Friday before the first Monday in August, Bermuda celebrates a two-day public holiday to allow its residents to watch a game of cricket.

To understand what Cup Match means to Bermudians, think of what Christmas would be like with great weather and without the presents, commercialism or religious connotations. It’s a time for families to be together, for eating and drinking, for pitching a tent in the parks or on the beaches (or just by the side of the road), for going out on your boat, for watching the cricket or listening to it on the radio. While a surprising number of locals have never actually gone to the game itself, everyone is grateful for the chance to kick back and relax for a few days. Among Bermudians, Cup Match is arguably more popular than Christmas.

But just as the religious side of Christmas is scarcely given a thought these days, so most Bermudians spend little time thinking about the origins of Cup Match. The tradition was started by Captain J. Moresby of the Royal Navy in 1872, to mark the 40th anniversary of the abolition of slavery on August 1st 1834. Until 1902 the game was an informal affair played between two lodges, one from Somerset in the west end of the Island and one from St. George’s, in the east end. Since 1902 the game has been played between Somerset Cricket Club and St. George’s Cricket Club, with the venue for the two-day match alternating each year. Cup Match became a public holiday in 1947; in 1999 the first day of Cup Match was officially designated Emancipation Day while the second was titled Somers Day (after Admiral Sir George Somers who colonised Bermuda in 1609).

I’ve been to Cup Match twice before, but this was my first time at Somerset’s ground. In the weeks leading up the Cup Match, ribbons and flags begin to appear on the Island’s cars and trucks in either the red and navy of Somerset or the pale blue and dark blue of St. George’s. As we drove across the Island to the ground yesterday, Mandy and I were in party mood, enthusiastically tooting any cars and trucks we saw sporting St. George’s colours.

This year security on the gates had been stepped up dramatically; after the violence at Wellington Oval back in April the Government was understandably concerned that the gangs responsible for that melee might choose Cup Match for their next fight. We all had to pass through an airport-style metal detector as we entered the ground, bags were searched, and the police had a much higher profile than in previous years. But fortunately this did little to dent the traditional carnival atmosphere among those crammed inside.

While many do of course come to watch the game, for many others, ourselves included, the cricket is less important than just soaking up that atmosphere. The vivid blues of the sky and the tarpaulins stretched across the crowd, juxtaposed with the bright greens of the grass and trees, the salmon clubhouse and the confusion of brightly coloured umbrellas and signs made for a vibrant panorama. As we made our way across the front of the clubhouse we were almost deafened by a blast of James Brown from a tower of speakers to our right in response to a boundary from one of the St. George’s batsmen. Carefully negotiating our way around the side of the ground through the crush of revellers, we finally made it to thee food stalls selling everything from hamburgers to mussel pie, for a quick lunch of conch stew from Dolly’s wagon.

It was a hot, sunny day, only briefly marred by a heavy shower that drenched the ground at lunchtime, causing the covers to be hurriedly rolled out over the pitch. We barely noticed it, however. By that point we were already in the Crown and Anchor tent.

Crown and Anchor is one of the big attractions of Cup Match, a gambling game which was popular with British sailors in the 19th century. A rectangular table is divided up into ten squares – two marked with a heart, two with diamonds, two with clubs, two with spades, one with a crown and one with an anchor. Players place their bets on one or more of these squares, using a lead weight to stop the notes blowing away. Once all bets are down, the banker rolls three six-sided dice marked with the same symbols as on the table. If a die shows the same symbol as that on which you placed your money, you win an amount equal to your stake (which you also get back). If two dice show that symbol you win twice your stake, and if all three come up the same, you win three times what you put down. If none of the dice match the square on which you bet, however, you lose your stake. The crown and anchor themselves have no special meaning.

Last year I managed to win $32 on the Crown and Anchor tables by following a relentless strategy of always betting on the same square and doubling my initial $2 stake every time I lost. This year I considering just putting $50 down on one square, then walking away whether I won or lost, but couldn’t quite find the courage. Maybe next year.

We didn't watch much of the cricket. By the time we arrived, the outcome was already a forgeone conclusion, with St. George's being all out before lunch, for scarcely over one hundred runs. That didn't stop one enthusiastic lady though. Immaculately turned out in white pants and a lime green top and hat, and waving St. George's colours, every time her team managed to get one of the Somerset players out she ran onto the pitch to hug the departing batsman, then proceeded to do a little dance for the crowd.

That's the spirit of Cup Match.

Comments

[Robina on 30.07.04 at 18:14]

Great reporting Phil. Knew we could rely on you to capture the essence of Cup Match and thank you for explaining the way Crown and Anchor works. I was listening to HOTT 1075 yesterday and was so disappointed to hear, shorty before midday here, that St. George were all out. Enjoy the rest of the holiday.

Robina. The Limey in NH.

[Boogie on 31.07.04 at 10:28]

Where did you get that little bit of trivia on "Captain J. Moresby"? I would be VERY interested to know the source.

[Boogie on 31.07.04 at 10:32]

Uhh, I've got egg on my face. Duhh, I didn't see that Bermuda online link! sorry ;o(

[lizardfish on 31.07.04 at 15:15]

Did you take a any arty farty pics of cup match? I had planned on going to get some pictures but never got my fat arse all the way to the west end on either day!

I went sailing in the regatta on Thursday
and after that I was a complete vegetable - so it was nice to hear about the game, even though you didn't see much yourself (ya big poser!).

Boo hoo for St. George's. I wish they would win for once!!

L.

[RedWolf Bluewolf on 31.07.04 at 17:08]

Well ...Red and Blue forever!!!Could tell by how St. Georges played their practise matches that the Cup was staying up West with us TROJANS. Maybe St. Georges should get a new set of pitch lights...certainly helped us...Anyway thanks for comming up to Somerset..will have the white horse out and parade the cup all through the GREAT Parish of Somerset..time to lace up the boots and get ready for Football season..not looking forward to the beach work but I think Somerset is going to have an excellent season ..for the Extros its all in the balance.^..^

[The Limey on 31.07.04 at 23:39]

Yep - Photos of the first day's festivities are now available at http://www.limeyinbermuda.com/photos/cup_match_2004/index.html.

[Eric on 02.08.04 at 09:08]

What amazes me is that anyone actually runs a Crown and Anchor table at all.
Unless you, as the person that owns the table and is running the game, downright cheat, then you actually stand a good shot at going bust.

The two things that the people that are running the C&A table have to rely on are the "gambler's ruin", and the max bet of $1000.
It would also benefit them if they could add a forced (and large) incremenetal bet amount (for instance, all bets must be an amount of $5 - $20, 25, 30, etc).

The double-down concept that The Limey speaks of is the Martingale system (although traditionally used on roulette wheels) and that is 100% guarenteed to win if you have infinite time (you don't sleep), infinite resources (large wallet), and there is no max bet ceiling (and the smaller the big increments that are allowed, the better).

Then with the "gambler's ruin", it says that in a 50/50 game of chance (which this is - 3 dice rolling a 1/6 chance give you a 3/6 chance, or 1/2), over time whichever party has the largest bankroll will always win out.

So in order to win at Crown and Anchor, your best bet is to walk up to the table with more money available to you than available to the dealer and you can take all of their money - break the house.

That said, you have the problem that there is the max bet ceiling, and then the additional problem that the dealer's money supply is in flux - there are other people at the table that are also betting and theoretically feeding his money supply. So while you have a fixed bankroll, his is feasibly growing - fed by those around you betting.
So if you really want to do well - get everyone at the table in with you - then you have the pooled resources and a shot.
Of course I doubt any dealer would allow that to happen.

Still, it appears as much of a gamble to actually own one of the tables as it is to play on one.
Not exactly a great business venture - but a lot of fun!

[Jay Pedro on 02.08.04 at 09:54]

Eric,
You are wrong about the betting odds of C&A bieng 50/50. I could give you the long story on probability, but there is a far simpler way to prove it. Put 1 dollar down on each of the six possibilities. Now if the odds were 50/50 you would expect to stay at 6 dollars forever, correct? But this is not the case. If a double comes up, you win $2 on the doubled bet, plus keep the $1 original bet, plus one dollar on the other die plus the $1 original bet on that die. Add it all up and you are now left with $5. The odds are marginally less than 50% for the bettor because of doubles and triples. I could put together a spreadsheet that explains it in detail, but I'm busy.

[Eric on 02.08.04 at 10:17]

True enough Jay, it doesn't appear that I accounted for the doubling at all.

I suppose it serves me right for trying out math in my head without coffee.

Thanks for pointing that out.

[andrew on 02.08.04 at 10:33]

from
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/dice-play/Games/ChuckALuck.htm

"An operator has the odds in his favour and will consistently make money. With three dice the odds of any number coming up are 50 - 50 which pays (correctly) even money. The trick is in doubles and triples which are what the operator wants as much as the suckers who play. Work out how much you would win and lose if you bet an equal amount on every number and a double or triple came up. A double would occur 90 out of 216 (6 x 6 x 6) rolls and a triple would occur 6. The overall house edge is 7.8703%."

[Eric on 02.08.04 at 10:57]

So clearly they make money off of idiots like myself that do the wrong math in their heads whilst drunk (although I don't even have the drunk excuse this morning, just plain idiocy).

If they can expect a 7.8% return per dollar, then (let's see if I do more bad math this morning):
$0.078 return/$1.00 wagered
Average wager $10 (total guess).

So with 5 people around a table, you figure you can get in 1 bet every 15 seconds - or 4 bets a minute.
4 bets at $10 per person, 5 people - $40 * 5 = $200.
$200 * 0.078 = $15.60
So you would expect to take in roughly $15/minute at a table that has a constant 5 people at it.

Assuming you could sustain that rate (which seems reasonable since the number of players would be in flux and likely over 5 from the bit that I saw last year looking inside the tent), that would give you $900 an hour.
Assume that you operate for 8 hours (likely longer I imagine), and then for two days (the tables are only there for the actual game right?): $900 * 16 = $14,400.

How much does it cost to register a table there, and how much do they pay their helpers?

[andrew on 02.08.04 at 11:19]

Spots this year cost $950 for what I think was a 12 by 12 foot space in which to operate a table. Each year prices for tables vary, usually in the $900-$1000 range. I have no idea what they pay their helpers, but I think it’s probably profit-based.

From what I can tell, your math this morning is pretty good (and I would hope that you’re not drunk yet). I think that a table would do one roll per minute though. Rolling doesn’t take long, but betting and the paying out can absorb more time than you think.

The hard part about setting up a table I guess is getting the initial capital. You would need at least a few thousand dollars in cash to cover all costs and have some float.

All being said, it is usually a very lucrative operation.

[lizardfish on 03.08.04 at 00:20]

Nice pics Phil - liked esp. the police up against the wall, the pic of the dealers hand with the money and the wide shot of the crowd - though feel the rest are not up to your usual standards.... :op

L.

[Somers on 04.08.04 at 14:08]

Nice pics Phil, missed the game this year as I dumped the Crown & Anchor tables and flew to Vegas for the weekend instead. Not the best time to go (110 degrees!) but considering everything is inside it doesn't really matter too much.
I did play the Martingale system on Roulette numerous times, and only left a looser once... it provided a nice way to gain back the money I threw away on Craps and BJ at 4am.
Riding Harleys around the country was cool too.. ahh good times indeed!

[ralph on 04.08.06 at 10:58]

Is cupmatch streaming live on the internet. I would love to tune it but can not find a internet stream - Ralph in Cali

[Pompous G. Windbag Jnr III on 06.08.06 at 01:24]

Aaaah Cup Match - where else can obese middle aged God fearin' black "ladies" dress like 15 year old Puerto Rican hookers and maintain their dignity?

[Guilden M. Gilbert, Jr. on 06.08.06 at 13:17]

Well, it is indeed nice to know that you do not stereotype black women.

[Just My Opinion on 07.08.06 at 01:25]

Aaaah Cup Match - where else can obese middle aged God fearin' black "ladies" dress like 15 year old Puerto Rican hookers and maintain their dignity?

Posted by Pompous G. Windbag Jnr III on 06.08.06 at 01:24

what about the other race of women in their skimpy bathing tops ????????

[Ethiops on 07.08.06 at 02:34]

Pompous it takes a sad soul to generate and spread that type of humor...

Well done

[The Right Reverend Uncle Elvis on 07.08.06 at 09:59]

Exactly. 'cuz it's not like there's any thick-ankled, cottage-cheese assed, shark-liver legs, in clothing FAR too skimpy for their body type, White chicks out there. Noooo...

For that matter, how about the dudes? No shirt when they really have no business not wearing a shirt? Big ol' pot bellies hangin over their waistline...

So let's see. He's offensive to black folks, women, Puerto Ricans, Christians, older folks AND people with weight problems, all in 22 words... ok, he's a narrow minded, not-funny dick, but you gotta admit, that sort of assholery is impressive.

Hey, Pompous, how about leaving the humour to the professionals? Comedy's dangerous. Don't try it at home.

[Two Cents on 07.08.06 at 10:39]

Pompous,

Reading / Listening to your drivel reminds me of a scene from "Dirty Harry" (and no not the "make my day" scene...Read below

De Georgio: Our Harry he's equal opportunity kinda guy

Gonzales: Huh ??

De Georgio: Harry hates everybody. Limeys, Micks, Hebes, Fat Dagos, Niggers, Honkies, Chinks, you name it.

Gonzales: How does he feel about Mexicans?
De Georgio: Ask him.

Harry Callahan: Especially Spics.

So very pleasant, well at least Clint is only acting.