The one thing absolutely necessary to the bucket shop are quotations,
never from a legitimate board of trade, but through leased wires, or
wire tappings, or from some other fake source. For the instant that
the "quotations" cannot be written upon the blackboards the betting
must cease. The bet of the customer is that before a certain grain
drops off a point against him, it will advance a point or more in
his favor, and the bucket shopper takes the bet, holding the stake
himself. Frequently the bettor may realize that he has won a point, or
two, or three, and may insist upon the bucket shop selling for him.
Perhaps the victim lives at a distance from the shop and must write or
wire his "broker." He wires for the "broker" to sell, and perhaps gets
a message in reply to the effect that the market must go much better
than that; that he refuses to sacrifice his patron's best interests in
that way, and will hold on for the certain rise. In most cases this
patron is immensely flattered, until within a few days the market is
"off" again, wiping out not only his profits, but his original margins
as well.