• What Is Illegal Gambling Called Coronavirus
• What Is Illegal Betting Called
• What Is Illegal Gambling Called Money
• What Is Illegal Gambling Called State
• What Is Illegal Gambling Called

Sawdust Joint: It is an American slang term which refers to a non-luxury gambling club. In table poker, the vigorish, more commonly called the rake, is a fraction of each bet placed into the pot. The dealer removes the rake from the pot after each bet (or betting round), making change if necessary. The winner of the hand gets the money that remains in the pot after the rake has been removed.

Like most people these days, when I need to define a word, I visit Google. This is what comes up when I search for “definition of gambling,” although I’ve paraphrased it a bit to make it more readable:

The word “gambling” is the gerund or present participle of the word “gamble,” which is a verb that means “to play games of chance for money.” It also means “to bet.”

Google also provides an example sentence, which I’ll skip, as I think most people reading this get the general idea. But I will include the list of synonyms, as I think that adds some clarity, too:

• Bet
• Place or lay a bet on something
• Stake money on something
• Back the horses
• Play the ponies

The secondary definition read: “to take risky action in the hope of a desired result.”

That definition also includes a list of synonyms:

• Take a chance
• Take a risk
• Stick one’s neck out
• Go out on a limb

Finally, the origin of the word comes from an obsolete word that’s a verb form of the word “game.” That word is “gamel,” and it was in common use in the early 18th century.

Why would a definition of gambling make for an interesting blog post, though?

Read on and find out.

Are Poker and Other Games of Skill Gambling?

Besides blogging, I also edit some of the gambling-related pages on the Wikipedia. Occasionally, some well-meaning person will come in and revise the “poker” article to take out references to the word “gambling.” Their contention is that since poker is a game of skill, it’s not gambling.

I contend that those well-meaning editors are mistaken. Poker is a game of chance in the short run and a game of skill in the long run, but the main criterion used to determine whether it’s “gambling” is whether you’re risking money when you play.

If you’re not risking money, I’d suggest you’re playing poker wrong. Without the betting component, the game is essentially meaningless. I think this holds true for any gambling game. Sure, you can play slots for free online with no money at risk, but I can’t imagine that such an activity is interesting or entertaining at all.

It’s the act of betting that makes an activity “gambling.” With poker, you can’t play if you’re not betting. That’s an essential aspect of the game. And if you’re betting something with no value, like play money chips or toothpicks, the stakes lose their meaning. The nature of the game changes when there’s nothing at risk.

If you bet on who’s going to win a game of darts or a game of billiards, you’re betting on a game of skill. Most people would contend that you’re still gambling, regardless of whether skill determines the outcome in full or in part.

But you also have legal definitions of gambling to consider. After all, since gambling is one of those activities that’s often regulated by the government, the legal definition of what gambling is matters. In the case of some of the people who’ve been imprisoned for illegal gambling activities, it matters a lot. (Luckily, there aren’t many people with that dubious distinction.)

Legal Definitions of Gambling – What Is and What Isn’t Gambling?

USLegal.com offers a legal definition of gambling that might come in handy, too:

A person engages in gambling if he stakes or risks something of value upon the outcome of a contest of chance or a future contingent event not under his control or influence, upon an agreement or understanding that he or someone else will receive something of value in the event of a certain outcome. Gambling does not include bona fide business transactions valid under the law of contracts, such as the purchase or sale at a future date of securities or commodities, contracts of indemnity or guaranty and life, health or accident insurance.

This seems to preclude, at least to some extent, games of skill. The major criteria involved, though, seem to include risk or uncertainty and the possibility of gaining or losing something of value. The definition’s exclusion of “bona fide business transactions” is useful, too.

But in the United States, anyway, not all activities qualifying as “gambling” are “illegal gambling.” Some activities constitute “legal gambling.”

Under Federal law, gambling qualifies as illegal if it meets any of the following criteria:

1. If it violates a state law
2. If it involves 5+ people who are running the activity as a business
3. If it’s a gambling business that’s operated for 30+ days or that’s made more than $2000 in a single day

Of course, some companies are allowed to conduct gambling businesses provided they’re licensed to do so.

#1 on that list is important, too, because it highlights the fact that what’s legal and illegal as it relates to gambling varies from state to state. Some devices are illegal when they’re used for gambling, for example. The age of the participants can matter, too. Some states make certain activities legal, while other states might not allow them—horse racing is an example. Another example is Oklahoma—until recently, Oklahoma tribal casinos were allowed to offer gambling games, but only if they didn’t use dice or spinning wheel to determine outcomes.

Keep in mind that I’m a blogger, not a lawyer. I do research, write what I believe to be true, and let you make your own decisions.

Most states also use something called “The Dominant Factor Test” to decide whether something is considered legal gambling. This is the question of whether chance is the most important factor when determining the outcome. It most often comes up in court cases related to poker.

The premise is that poker isn’t illegal gambling because it’s more a game of skill than it is a game of chance. One of the arguments for this stance relies on an analysis of over 103 million hands on PokerStars. Since over 3/4 of those hands were determined without a showdown, it’s clear that how the players played their hands had more to do with the outcomes than random chance.

For practical purposes, I’d say that poker is still gambling. For legal purposes, I’d say it’s a game of skill. Some lawyers and judges agree with me; others disagree.

Also, I should point out that The Dominant Factor Test is NOT an element for deciding the legality of gambling in every state, either. It’s commonly used, but it’s by no means universally used.

Common Activities that Everyone Agrees Constitute Gambling

It might be useful to make some observations about some of the common activities that everyone agrees constitute gambling. One broad category of these activities is casino games.

Casino Games

You can subdivide casino games into table games and gambling machines. Casino games, by their nature, are games where the casino banks the action. Players don’t compete with each other; they compete with the house. This distinguishes casino games from traditional types of poker where the players compete with each other for the money.

Table games are casino games that are played at tables set up for that purpose. (Duh!) The most common table games include the following:

• Baccarat
• Blackjack
• Craps
• Roulette

Those aren’t the only table games played at casinos. Older games like Sic Bo still get played, and lots of newer games, like Casino War and Three Card Poker are also popular. None of these other games get the kind of exposure as the examples in the bulleted list, though.

The nice thing about table games is the lower house edge. All casino games present the players with bets where the house has a mathematical advantage. That’s how the casinos stay in business, in fact. Most table games offer a house edge of less than 5%, although some bets on some table games are much higher than that.

The drawback for the gambler with table games is that they’re more complicated than gambling machines. With some games, you must learn which bets carry the higher and lower house edge for the casino. With other games, your decisions matter. For example, if you make mistakes in how you play your blackjack hand, the house edge is higher than it might otherwise be.

Gambling machines, on the other hand, are easily recognized. They can be organized into 2 broad categories: slot machines and video poker. The 2 types of games look eerily similar, but they have significant differences educated gamblers should understand.

Slot machines are games where your outcomes are determined by a random number generator that controls how often specific symbols show up on the reels and paylines for the game. You have no way of knowing those probabilities, so the house edge for a slot machine is impossible to determine. In competitive areas like The Strip in Las Vegas, the house edge for slot machines might be as low as 5% or 6%, but in other areas, the house edge might be as high as 25% or more.

Video poker, though, duplicates the same probabilities you’d see from a deck of cards. Any specific card in a deck of cards shows up with a probability of 1/52. Since that’s the case, we can calculate the payback percentage for a video poker machine that’s played with optimal strategy.

The house edge for most video poker games is considerably lower than the house edge for slot machines. In fact, video poker games with good pay tables often have a house edge lower than that of any other casino game besides blackjack. The trick to taking advantage of video poker is twofold—you 1st must learn to recognize the best pay tables, and the 2nd is to learn to play those games with close to optimal strategy.

Sports Betting

Most people understand that placing bets on sports is also a form of gambling. I’m not aware of much controversy regarding The Dominant Factor Test when it comes to sports betting, but I’m assured by the experts that skill is the predominant factor here in the long run, too.

The number of sports you can bet on through a bookmaker is staggering. The most commonly bet sports in the United States include baseball, basketball, football, and hockey.

But you can also bet on golf, MMA, and Nascar.

Most bookmakers, either in Vegas or offshore, also offer a wide variety of prop (or proposition) bets related to the worlds of entertainment and politics. A recent example of this relates to the anonymous op-ed published in The New York Times. Overseas books are offering odds on who wrote the op-ed.

From the world of entertainment, it’s common for bookmakers to offer wagers on who’ll win various awards like the Oscars or the Emmys.

Bookmakers get their profits from “the juice” or “the vig.” In many cases, this means that they ask their customers to wager $110 to win $100, but they also often offer lopsided odds which results in a guaranteed profit as long as they get equal amounts of action on either side of the event.

Most people can’t pick winners well enough to overcome the juice, but if you can pick winners against the point spread over 53% of the time, you can win consistent money betting on sports.

Fantasy sports can be considered a type of sports betting. That IS a case where The Dominant Factor Test has been coming into play lately. With the potential rise of legal sports betting, lately, though, fantasy sports will probably be heavily regulated.

Bingo and Other “Picking Numbers” Type Games

Bingo is probably the most socially acceptable form of gambling in the world today. You can find some of even the strictest churches offering bingo games, although they often offer prizes rather than cash. It’s a simple game that most people learn to play in childhood.

The lottery resembles bingo. It’s all about guessing or randomly choosing numbers that match a drawing of some kind. The lottery is unusual in being the only type of gambling I know of that the government operates. The funds from the lottery are supposed to be earmarked for educational purposes in most states, but it’s clear that they usually fund corporate subsidies instead.

The house edge for such games is high, by the way—especially for the lottery.

Other Card Games

What Is Illegal Gambling Called Coronavirus

You can place friendly wagers with almost anyone socially when playing cards. People bet on games like hearts, rummy, and spades all the time. These games are often played for low stakes.

I know people who bet on their outcomes during games of Scrabble and Monopoly, too.

Really, any kind of game that can be played can involve wagering.

Potential Risks Involved with Gambling

Gambling, like alcohol and drug use, is an inherently risky activity to engage in. Sure, some people drink and do drugs with impunity. Some people gamble with impunity, too.

But don’t underestimate how dangerous gambling can be just because it doesn’t involve putting a substance in your body. The reactions of your brain chemistry to gambling activities is just as real and just as risky as its reactions to various controlled substances.

Gambling addiction is a real thing. If you find that you’re no longer enjoying your gambling but can’t stop, it’s probably time to stop.

What Is Illegal Betting Called

Conclusion

The definition of gambling seems clear-cut at first glance, but when you start bringing legal issues into it, the waters start getting muddy quickly. The law makes a distinction between legitimate business enterprises that involve risk and gambling. It also often distinguishes between games that are predominantly decided via skill versus games that are predominantly decided via chance.

Skill versus chance is only one of the aspects of an activity that make it “gambling.” The risk of something of value in exchange for the possibility of winning something of value is another aspect.

Most people know what gambling is when they see it. Understanding the various kinds of gambling and what matters related to them is the crucial distinction.

It’s hard to understate the risks that gambling might pose to a person besides just a short-term loss of a small amount of money. Some people are constitutionally incapable of gambling without developing a compulsion to gamble more. When that happens, look out. Lives are ruined, relationships are destroyed, and some people even commit suicide.

If you think you’re developing a gambling problem, get help.

If you’re able to gamble for fun without developing a problem, my hat’s off to you. I don’t buy into the whole “gambling is immoral” line of thinking.

The numbers game, also known as the numbers racket, the Italian lottery, or the daily number, is a form of illegal gambling or illegal lottery played mostly in poor and working class neighborhoods in the United States, wherein a bettor attempts to pick three digits to match those that will be randomly drawn the following day. For many years the 'number' has been the last three digits of 'the handle', the amount race track bettors placed on race day at a major racetrack, published in racing journals and major newspapers in New York.

Gamblers place bets with a bookmaker ('bookie') at a tavern, bar, barber shop, social club, or any other semi-private place that acts as an illegal betting parlor. Runners carry the money and betting slips between the betting parlors and the headquarters, called a numbers bank.

Closely related is policy, known as the policy racket, or the policy game. The name 'policy' is based on the similarity to cheap insurance, which is also a gamble on the future.^[1]

History[edit]

'Policy shops', where bettors choose numbers, operated in the United States prior to 1860.^[2] In 1875, a report of a select committee of the New York State Assembly stated that 'the lowest, meanest, worst form ... [that] gambling takes in the city of New York, is what is known as policy playing.'^[3] It flourished especially in working class African American and Italian American communities across the country, though it was also played to a lesser extent in many working classIrish-American and Jewish-American communities. It was known in Cuban-American communities as bolita ('little ball').^{[citation needed]}

Other sources date the origin of Policy, at least in its most well-known form, to 1885 in Chicago. During part of its run from 1868 to 1892, the Louisiana Lottery involved drawing several numbers from 1 to 78, and people wagering would choose their own numbers on which to place a bet. Initially, it instead ran by means of the sale of serially-numbered tickets, and at another point, the numbers drawn ran from 1 to 75.

By the early 20th century, the game was associated with poor and working-class communities, as it could be played for as little as a penny. Also, unlike state lotteries, bookies could extend credit to the bettors and policy winners could avoid paying income tax. Different policy banks would offer different rates, although a payoff of 600 to 1 was typical.^[4] Since the odds of winning were 999:1 against the bettors, the expected profit for racketeers was enormous.^[3]

Boston[edit]

In Boston (as well as elsewhere in the northeast), the game was commonly referred to as the 'nigger pool', including in the city's newspapers, due to the game's popularity in black neighborhoods.^[5][6] The number was based on the handle from the early races at Suffolk Downs or, if Suffolk was closed, one of the racetracks in New York. The winner could be controlled by manipulating the handle.^[6]

After Jerry Angiulo became head of the Mafia in Boston, in 1950, he established a profit sharing plan whereby for every four numbers one of his runners turned in, they would get one for free. This resulted in the numbers game's taking off in Boston. According to Howie Carr, The Boston American was able to stay in business in part because it published the daily number.^[6]

During the 1950s, Wimpy and Walter Bennett ran a numbers ring in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood. The Bennetts' protégé Stephen Flemmi took and collected bets for them.

Around the same time, Buddy McLean began forming a gang in Somerville, Massachusetts to, among other criminal activities, run numbers. This would become the Winter Hill Gang.^[7] By the 1970s, the Winter Hill Gang, then led by Whitey Bulger, moved bookies under its protection away from the numbers game to sports betting, as the state was starting its own lottery, and the National Football League did not allow betting on its games outside of Nevada; thereby Massachusetts could not compete with them. Despite the creation of the state lottery, however, the numbers game's demise in Massachusetts was not immediate, as the state lottery had a lower payout and was taxed.^[6]

Chicago[edit]

In the 1940s, Eddie Jones and his brothers earned more than $180,000 per week in the black community. While in jail for income tax evasion, Jones became acquainted with Sam Giancana, a hit-man for hire among top Italian Mafia figures. Back on the streets, the men became friends. Eddie taught Sam everything he knew about the policy game and how to memorize number combinations, and even hired Sam to operate one of his many lucrative establishments.

Sam made his first fortune through Eddie. Aspiring to become a 'made man', Sam shared his new knowledge of the policy game with the Dons, who were impressed. By then, the Italian Mafia focused their attention on the Jones market in the black community.

Under orders from the Dons, Sam was instructed to remove Jones from his lucrative position and take over. To avoid being murdered by the mob, Jones walked away from his family enterprise.^[8]

Detroit[edit]

A 1941 trial exposed Detroit's extensive numbers operations. Among the policy houses operating were 'Big Four Mutuale' (owned by John Roxborough, boxer Joe Louis's manager), 'Yellow Dog' (owned by Everett Watson), 'Tia Juana', 'Interstate', 'Mexico and Villa' (operated by Louis Weisberg), 'New York', 'Michigan', and others.^[9] Big Four was said in testimony to be doing $800,000 business a year, with profits of up to $6000 a week. Yellow Dog was said to be doing $4,900 daily in business, totaling $1.5 million a year. The grand jury in the trial of 71 defendants charged that 10 policy houses had been paying $600 a month in payoffs equally divided between the chief of police, the head prosecutor and the mayor, with smaller bribes in the $25 to $50 range going to individual police sergeants and lieutenants. Former mayor Richard Reading was said to have received $18,000 in payoffs. Reading, Roxborough, Watson, and several others were convicted on conspiracy charges, with Roxborough receiving a ​2¹⁄₂- to 5-year sentence, and Reading sentenced to four to five years.

Cleveland[edit]

Benny Mason, of the 'B&M' policy house, and Buster Mathews of the 'Goldfield' policy house, were the main kingpins of the numbers game in 1930s and 1940s Cleveland. In a 1935 raid on the B&M house on E. 46th St., police found 200 policy writers on hand who had handed in their books and were waiting for the payoff.^[10] In a 1949 arrest, police picked up a 35-year-old woman named Robinson who told them she had been a policy writer for the past month and a half, at $40 a week. She was writing slips for the Old Kentucky, Goldfield and Last Chance games, and her top sheet showed that she had written $500 in business on that day (which happened to be Good Friday) alone.^[11]

What Is Illegal Gambling Called Money

By the 1950s, there were 8 rival numbers games operating in black sections of Cleveland, including 'California Gold', 'Mound Bayou' and 'T. & O.' The winning three-digit number from 000 to 999 was determined by the closing stock market results in the evening papers, with one digit each being taken from the totals for advances, declines, and unchanged. Bets of up to $2 would be placed with hundreds of numbers writers around the city, who would keep 25% of the money bet as their fee. In the mid-afternoon a runner (locally known as the pickup man or woman) would rendezvous with the writers to collect the policy slips and cash, which would be taken to a central location and totaled on adding machines prior to determining the winners. The runners kept 10% of the money bet as their fee. 65 cents on every dollar bet would be delivered to the 'clearinghouse' parlors, which calculated the winners and paid off at 500 to 1 odds, keeping 15 cents on the dollar, on an average day when no 'hot' number hit, for themselves. In the evening the runner would make the rounds again to deliver the cash winnings to those writers whose customers had hit the winning number, and winners would be paid. A number of bars, private clubs and taverns around town, including the 'Tia Juana', served as centers of the action where bettors and writers would congregate and wait for the winners to be announced.

What Is Illegal Gambling Called State

After a 1955 car bombing in which the girlfriend of Arthur 'Little Brother' Drake was killed, police conducted a mass roundup of 28 numbers operators and runners on the east side, including Drake, Geech Bell, Don King, Edward Keeling, Dan Boone, Thomas Turk, and others.^[12] The following year Jewish gangster Shon Birns tried to keep the peace by setting up a 5-member syndicate of the leading black operators in Cleveland including Don King, Virgil Ogletree, Boone and Keeling to control the game, insure payouts when 'hot' numbers which had been overbet hit for large scores, and limit the payoff odds to 500 to 1; Birns also attempted to introduce a new method of determining the winning number. The game was wildly popular; in the 1950s one Cleveland numbers house was said to clear $20,000 a day.^[13]

Atlanta[edit]

In Atlanta the game was known as 'playing the bug.' In 1936 The Atlanta Constitution wrote: 'Both in the business section and the residential areas, one or more solicitors make their daily morning rounds into every office and every home. Then, in the afternoons, the 'pay-off' men make their rounds over the same routes. Their patrons include every class of Atlanta citizens—professional men, businessmen, housewives, and even children.'^[14] 'The bug' was believed by police to be grossing citywide as much as $30,000 in bets a day at its height in 1937–1938. During a police crackdown in 1943, authorities claimed that the game was in decline and 'they are lucky if they bank as much as $12,000 to $15,000 a day,' after a raid on an alleged headquarters on Parsons Street.^[15] In 1944, eight bug rings were believed to be operating in the city, collectively handling a total of $15,000 to $20,000 in bets on an average day. Writers took out a 25% commission before passing on the rest of the day's receipts to the house.^[16]Bug writers employed a number of schemes to foil police: in 1936 police observed writers carrying the day's bet slips gathering under the bridge which passes over the railroad tracks at Nelson St. As lottery squad officers watched, a pick-up car pulled up and stopped on the bridge overhead, the writers threw their paper sacks full of bet slips up to it, and the car sped off.^[17] In 1937 indictments were brought against the alleged 'big shots' of the bug game in Atlanta, including Bob Hogg, the Hall brothers (Albert and Leonard), Flem King, Willie Carter, Walter Cutcliffe, Glenn House, and Henry F. Shorter.^[18] Henry Shorter was a barber who ran the game out of his barber shop. In 1944, Shorter was one of a select group of 20 African-American community leaders who were turned away from the polls when they attempted to vote in the Democratic primary; the Rev. M.L. King, father of Martin Luther King Jr., was among the others who participated in this protest.^[19]

Bahamas[edit]

Number games are popular in many Bahamian communities. While gambling in casinos is legal for tourists visiting the Bahamas, it is forbidden for Bahamian residents. There is also no legalized lottery for Bahamian nationals. As a result, the predominant form of gambling among residents is playing the Numbers.^[20]

New York City[edit]

The Italian lottery was operated as a racket for the American Mafia, originally in Italian-American neighborhoods such as Little Italy, Manhattan and Italian Harlem by mobsters of the Morello crime family. A young Joseph Bonanno, future boss of the Bonanno crime family, expanded the Italian lottery operation to all of Brooklyn and invested the profits in many legitimate businesses.^[21] In the 1930s, Vito Genovese, crime boss of the Genovese crime family, ruled the Italian lottery in New York and New Jersey, bringing in over $1 million per year, owned four Greenwich Village night clubs, a dog track in Virginia, and other legitimate businesses.^[22]

Dutch Schultz is said to have rigged this system, thanks to an idea from Otto Berman, by betting heavily on certain races to change the Win, Place and Show numbers that determine the winning lottery number. This allegedly added ten percent to the Mob take.^[23]

What Is Illegal Gambling Called

Harlem[edit]

Francis A. J. Ianni, in his book Black Mafia: Ethnic Succession in Organized Crime writes: 'By 1925 there were thirty black policy banks in Harlem, several of them large enough to collect bets in an area of twenty city blocks and across three or four avenues.' By 1931, big time numbers operators in Harlem included James Warner, Stephanie St. Clair ('Madame Queen'), Casper Holstein, Ellsworth 'Bumpy' Johnson, Wilfred Brunder, Jose Miro, Joseph Ison, Masjoe Ison and Simeon Francis.^[24] The game survived despite periodic police crackdowns.^[25]

Legal lotteries[edit]

Today, many state lotteries offer similar 'daily numbers' games, typically relying on mechanical devices to draw the number. The state's rake is typically 50% rather than the 20–40% of the numbers game. The New York Lottery and Pennsylvania Lottery even use the names 'Numbers' and 'Daily Number' respectively. Despite the existence of legal alternatives, some gamblers still prefer to play with a bookie for a number of reasons. Among them are the ability to bet on credit, better payoffs, the convenience of calling in one's bet on the telephone, the ability to play if under the legal age, and the avoidance of government taxes.

Gameplay[edit]

One of the problems of the early game was to find a way to draw a random number. Initially, winning numbers were set by the daily outcome of a random drawing of numbered balls, or by spinning a 'policy wheel', at the headquarters of the local numbers ring. The daily outcomes were publicized by being posted after the draw at the headquarters, and were often 'fixed'. The existence of rigged games, used to cheat players and drive competitors out of business, as well as the practical obstacles to holding a drawing for a lottery that is illegal, later led to the use of widely published unpredictable numbers such as the last three numbers in the published daily balance of the United States Treasury, or the middle three digits of the number of shares traded that day on the New York Stock Exchange.^[26]

This is what led to the change from the game of policy, where 12 or 13 numbers from 1 to 78 were drawn, and players bet on combinations of four or fewer of them, to the 'numbers game' where players chose a three-digit number to bet on.

The use of a central, independently-chosen number allowed for gamblers from a larger area to engage in the same game and it made larger wins possible. It also gave customers confidence in the fairness of the games, which could still generate vast profits even if run honestly as they paid out only around $600 for every $1000 wagered.^[26]

When the Treasury began rounding off the balance, many bookies began to use the 'mutuel' number. This consisted of the last dollar digit of the daily total handle of the Win, Place and Show bets at a local race track, read from top to bottom. For example, if the daily handle (takings at the racetrack) was:

• Win $1004.25
• Place $583.56
• Show $27.61

then the daily number was 437.By 1936, 'The Bug' had spread to cities such as Atlanta, where the winning number was determined by the last digit of that day's New York bond sales.^[27]

Policy dealers[edit]

• Albert J. Adams (1845–1906), operator of policy game in New York City in the 1900s^[28]
• Ken Eto (1919–2004), operator of policy game in Chicago
• Giosue Gallucci (1865–1915), operator of Italian policy game in Italian Harlem in the 1910s, known as the King of Little Italy
• Tony Grosso (1913–1994), operator of numbers game in Pittsburgh
• Don King (born 1931), operator of a policy game in Cleveland before achieving fame as a boxing promoter
• Peter H. Matthews, operator of policy game in New York City in the 1900s
• Sai Wing Mock (1879–1941), operator of policy game in Chinatown, New York in the 1900s
• Joseph Vincent Moriarty, operator of numbers game in Hudson County, New Jersey in the 1950s
• Stephanie St. Clair (1886–1969), known as 'Madame Queen', operator of policy game in Harlem, in the 1920s and early 1930s.

Policy reformers[edit]

• Lexow Committee, uncovered illegal gambling in New York City

Timeline[edit]

• 1860 Private lotteries flourish in large cities
• 1894 Lexow Committee investigates^[29]
• 1901 Albert J. Adams arrested in New York City
• 1906 Albert J. Adams takes his own life^[28]
• 1916 Peter H. Matthews dies in prison
• 1964 New Hampshire starts the first modern US lottery

In popular culture[edit]

• Old Policy Wheel is a 1935 painting by Walter Ellison, depicting a scene in a Chicago basement betting parlor.^[30]
• In the 1946 film noirThe Killers, the Swede (Burt Lancaster) moves, fatally, from boxing to crime. The first criminal activity he is involved in is 'the numbers racket.'
• The 1948 film noirForce of Evil revolves around the numbers racket, with the plot hinging upon the workings of policy banks. The film tells of a gangster who is trying to take over all the banks in New York City by rigging the mutuel numbers to come up 776 on Independence Day. Since everybody plays those numbers for the Fourth of July, the banks will go bankrupt filling the policies.
• In the 1957 novel A Rage in Harlem by Chester Himes, the numbers are mentioned numerous times, including as an excuse for how the main character has come into a large amount of money.
• In the 19th episode “The Breaking Of The Habit” of the fourth season of the TV series “The Fugitive” (1963–1967) Dr. Richard Kimble is heading to a fictional town Tarleton 100 miles away from Sacramento, California where he discovers the murderer of his wife Fred Johnson works as a runner on the local numbers racket.
• In the 1972 film The Godfather, Sonny Corleone and members of the Corleone family discuss the fact that black gangs have taken over their 'policy banks' due to the turmoil caused by the gang wars between the Corleones and other New York Mafia families.
• In the 1972 film Shaft's Big Score!, John Shaft investigates the death of his friend, Cal Asby, and discovers that while Asby appeared to be a beloved community member, he was also tied to a local numbers racket. A scene shows a character going door to door in a housing project, collecting money and handing out numbered slips. Missing money from this local numbers game is central to the film.
• In the 1978 film adaptation of The Wiz the Good Witch Of The North, Miss One, is a number runner, and her entire personality, way of speaking, and wardrobe is built around numbers.
• In the 1990 film Goodfellas, one of young Henry Hill's first jobs working for the Mob is as a numbers runner.
• A subplot of the August Wilson 1990 play Two Trains Running involves several characters placing numbers bets with a bookie character Wolf. One character, Sterling, has the goal of marrying one of the other characters, Risa, should the number she gave him win.
• The Spike Lee biographic film Malcolm X portrays some of the revolutionary black leader Malcolm X's early days in Harlem, where he worked as a numbers runner for a man named 'West Indian Archie.'
• The numbers racket is the subject of the 1936 film Exclusive Story and is also portrayed in the 1997 film Hoodlum.
• In the 1999 film Liberty Heights, Joe Mantegna's character runs numbers game.
• In episode 108 of the podcast Criminal, 'The Numbers' follows the life of Fannie Davis, a mother in Detroit who becomes a banker in the numbers game to support her family. The episode describes the use of 'dream books', which associated symbols or experiences in dreams to possible number combinations, as well as paraphernalia such as candles that revealed number combinations after burning away the wax.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^Sifakis, Carl (2005). The Mafia Encyclopedia. Facts on File. p. 336.
2. ^Thompson, Nathan. Kings: The True Story of Chicago's Policy Kings and Numbers Racketeers, An Informal History.
3. ^ ^abCostello, Augustine E. (1885). Our Police Protectors: History of the New York Police from the Earliest Period to the Present Time. New York: self-published. Archived from the original on June 4, 2008. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
4. ^'600 to 1 Odds Lure Harlem to Gambling Orgy. Eager Men, Women and Children Bet Daily on Clearing House Numbers'. Baltimore Afro-American. October 27, 1922. p. 1.
5. ^O'Brien, Liam. You Bet!: An A–Z of Poker, Casinos and Lotteries. Liam O'Brien. ISBN978-1783012916.
6. ^ ^abcdCarr, Howie (2011). Hitman: The Untold Story of Johnny Martorano. New York: Forge Books. ISBN978-0765365316.
7. ^Songini, Marc (2014). Boston Mob: The Rise and Fall of the New England Mob and Its Most Notorious Killer. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN978-0312373634.
8. ^LTV021. (December 26, 2014). Momo: The Sam Giancana Story (2014) – USA (Documentary) – Full HD [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgvDMwtJZTk
9. ^'Detroit Racket Probe Witness Names Police as Takers', Cleveland Call and Post, Nov. 15, 1941, p. 11-B.
10. ^'Benny Mason Follows Policy Money to Police Station to Count It', Cleveland Call and Post, March 16, 1935, p. 1.
11. ^'In Good Friday Raid, Vice-Busters Strike Again', Cleveland Call and Post, April 23, 1949, p. 5.
12. ^'No Clues in Bomb Death: Mass Roundup of Racketeers is Big Washout', Cleveland Call and Post, Sept. 17, 1955, p. 1.
13. ^Priscilla Zotti, Injustice for All (Peter Lang, 2005) pp. 1–8.^{[ISBN missing]}
14. ^'Smashing of 'Bug' Racket Up to Public, Says Boykin,' Atlanta Constitution, December 18, 1936, p. 1.
15. ^'Bug Racket at Low Ebb in Atlanta', Atlanta Constitution, April 8, 1943, p. 12.
16. ^'$3,000 Tickets, 5 Men Seized in Lottery Raid,' Atlanta Constitution, June 30, 1944, p. 1.
17. ^'Bug' Men Driven to Cover of Night,' Atlanta Constitution, February 18, 1936, p. 1.
18. ^'Ten Reputed 'Big Shots' Named in Bills Drawn for Jury in Lottery Quiz: Hogg, Cutcliffe, House and Halls Reported in List,' Atlanta Constitution, Oct. 1, 1937, p. 1.
19. ^St. John, M.L. 'Token Attempt to Vote Made by Negroes Here,' Atlanta Constitution, July 5, 1944, p. 3.
20. ^'Gambling In The Bahamas The Tribune'. Tribune242.com. 2012-08-08. Retrieved 2016-02-20.
21. ^'Joseph Bonanno, 97; Infamous Mobster'. Los Angeles Times. May 12, 2002.
22. ^Fred J. Cook (1966). 'The secret rulers: criminal syndicates and how they control the U.S. underworld'. Duell, Sloan & Pearce.
23. ^Sifakis, pp. 38–39
24. ^Harlem Gangs: The Numbers GameArchived 2007-01-20 at the Wayback Machine from Crime Library
25. ^Hess, Margaret (February 25, 1934). 'Game the Police Are Seeking to Curb Draws Victims From the City's Poor'. New York Times. Retrieved 2008-07-26. The police offensive recently launched against the policy game has resulted in numerous arrests and the raiding of a 'bank' in which three sacks of 'slips' were discovered. Central depots in Harlem have also been closed and many collectors and bankers driven to cover.
26. ^ ^abKevin Cook (3 March 2014). Kitty Genovese: The Murder, the Bystanders, the Crime that Changed America. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 68. ISBN978-0393239287.
27. ^Associated Press, February 12, 1936
28. ^ ^ab''Al' Adams a Suicide, Following Misfortunes; Broken By Ill-health and Money Losses, He Shoots Himself. Sage & Co. Sank $2,000,000. He Also Felt Deeply The Disgrace Of Prison Sentence. Great Fortune Made In Policy Swindle'(PDF). New York Times. October 2, 1906. Retrieved 2008-07-23. 'Al' Adams, known as the 'Policy King,' committed suicide yesterday morning by shooting himself. Members of his family and those in the apartment house who ... Standing before a mirror in his apartment on the fifteenth floor of the Ansonia apartment hotel, 'Al' Adams, known as the 'Policy King,' committed suicide ...
29. ^'Paid $500 To Schmittberger'. New York Times. October 12, 1894. Retrieved 2008-07-26. Forget Says This Tribute Went To The Police Captain. The Agent Of The French Line Tells The Lexow Committee Of The Money Transaction. Complete Exposure Of The Policy Business In This City. A List Of 600 Places Where The Gambling Was Conducted. Only One Precinct Free From The Evil.
30. ^'Walter Ellison Artists Modernism in the New City: Chicago Artists, 1920–1950'. Chicagomodern.org. Retrieved 2016-02-20.

Further reading[edit]

• Herbert Asbury, Sucker's Progress: An Informal History of Gambling in America. (1938) pp. 88–106.
• Cooley, Will (2017). 'Jim Crow Organized Crime: Black Chicago’s Underground Economy in the Twentieth Century', in Building the Black Metropolis: African American Entrepreneurship in Chicago, Robert Weems and Jason Chambers, eds. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 147–70. ISBN978-0252082948.
• Davis, Bridgett M. (2019). The World According to Fannie Davis: My Mother's Life in the Detroit Numbers. New York: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN978-0316558730. OCLC1082363614.
• Drake, St. Clair; Horace R. Cayton (1945). Black Metropolis: A Study of Negro Life in a Northern City. pp. 470–94. ISBN978-0226253350.
• Liddick, Don. The mob's daily number: Organized crime and the numbers gambling industry (University Press of America, 1999).
• Light, Ivan. 'Numbers gambling among blacks: A financial institution.' American Sociological Review (1977): 892–904. online
• Kaplan, Lawrence J., and James M. Maher. 'The economics of the numbers game.' American Journal of Economics and Sociology 29.4 (1970): 391–408. online
• 'Policy-dealers Punished'. The New York Times. May 19, 1883. p. 2.
• Thompson, Nathan (2003). Kings: The True Story of Chicago's Policy Kings and Numbers Racketeers An Informal History. Chicago: Bronzeville Press. ISBN0972487506.
• White, Shane, Stephen Garton, Stephen Robertson and Graham White, Playing the Numbers: Gambling in Harlem Between the Wars. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2010. ISBN978-0674051072.