The daily lottery was originally a Harlem game — then the government wanted in

Comment #31

ESR54 — Wed, 20 Mar 2019 01:06:00 GMT

Hello did you know what we call pairs , They call it

Bolitas. And they pay way more than the State.

Exp: 98 str$.$1.00. $1.00 Combo. Pays $80.$8.

Plus $40. For Combo .Total of $80+$40 =$120.00

When you have Children to feed .And need fast Buck. That was Harlem Bank. The Numbers is Everyone's game.

Comment #30

Soledad — Tue, 05 Mar 2019 06:14:42 GMT

I know Matthew Vaz. I grew up with him. He s a good guy. Gosh ain t caught up with him in years.

Comment #29

sully16 — Mon, 04 Mar 2019 03:21:02 GMT

Very cool story.

Comment #28

Litebets27 — Sun, 03 Mar 2019 20:37:05 GMT

There you go

That is why it was always important to get the newspaper the following day to make sure the insurance man, (number man) was going to come by and pay up.

Comment #27

ccouncil117 — Sun, 03 Mar 2019 13:41:30 GMT

I remember!!! I remember when the state ( New York State) wanted in!!! my mother had a number runner come to pick up her pink slip filled out with 2 and three digit numbers and when the number hit( came out) her guy would come and pay her. Playing the numbers back then was illegal. ILLEGAL because the state wasn't getting paid. Needless to say they found a way to get a piece of the pie. Thanks for the article ! I never actuality knew how playing numbers were originated .

Comment #26

Coin Toss — Sun, 03 Mar 2019 05:12:36 GMT

Litebets27,

That's one of the reasons (probably the best) why the game was also called policy.

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Re: the number coming from race traxks.....

The bookies in Northern NJ used to use the last three dollar digits of the total mutual handle at racetracks............the racetracks were rotated to avoid any possible collusion.

Comment #25

JAP69 — Sun, 03 Mar 2019 01:49:40 GMT

Yep.

I use to play the numbers once in awhile back in the 60s and 70s.

The guy use to run a coffee truck that came through the development where we built houses. Go out for my morning coffee and snack and play a number.

Comment #24

jcmartin269 — Sun, 03 Mar 2019 01:20:37 GMT

nothing hAS change just the people new people in the game.

Comment #23

LottoNXN — Sat, 02 Mar 2019 20:29:14 GMT

Good Article, well the many pick 3's and pick 4's utilized the box , option is some ways paying homage to the Numbers , game.

Comment #22

ESR54 — Sat, 02 Mar 2019 19:01:27 GMT

I Thank God for the Number Spots Years gone by.What would black people do today. Now is $900.00

To $1.00 That is History Harlem History We must go on Forever.Poor people live like that.

Comment #21

Dd2160 — Sat, 02 Mar 2019 18:24:31 GMT

Interesting read.

The numbers list has not changed numbers follow same set of numbers.

Comment #20

Litebets27 — Sat, 02 Mar 2019 17:58:32 GMT

There was a guy who use to visit our home a couple of days a week. When we were younger, my parents would say he was the insurance man . When we grew older we learned, he was the numbers man . They also said the numbers came from racing results but different late races.

Comment #19

Feisty1 — Sat, 02 Mar 2019 15:21:29 GMT

Yes they did you are right, but after a while there were two daily numbers ... one was called The Handle and the other The Old Way. My next door neighbor ran numbers back in the day .. nice lil old lady. I got introduced to the game waaaaay too young ... remember my late parents betting 60 cents straight 40 cents box on numbers!!! I remember that lady getting arrested and couldn't attend my sister's wedding because she was locked up! Wow, the memories ... Thanks Todd

Comment #18

sweetie7398 — Sat, 02 Mar 2019 15:20:29 GMT

, Government always want control

Comment #17

kennedygrandma8 — Sat, 02 Mar 2019 14:56:50 GMT

My daddy played the numbers and I never knew. I too started playing when I was 18 and I would hit a lot and tell my daddy and he would just laugh. He never told me he used to play My moms sister told me and a friend that used to ply with her father. Government always go to get their hands in something and tax the heck out of big wins. I had a friend now deceased who hit for 20 thousand one time tax free

Comment #16

sweetie7398 — Sat, 02 Mar 2019 14:37:14 GMT

Awesome Black History

Comment #15

Artist77 — Sat, 02 Mar 2019 12:55:00 GMT

Very interesting.

Comment #14

Bleudog101 — Sat, 02 Mar 2019 11:02:29 GMT

Great article and the Government, as usual, had to put their hands in the till.

Speaking of lotteries, wonder if Todd et al across the Hudson won NJ Mega Millions last night

Comment #13

jmidgette — Sat, 02 Mar 2019 07:41:17 GMT

Awesome article Todd

Comment #12

Nikkicute — Sat, 02 Mar 2019 06:52:52 GMT

Happy belated Black History Month!!Great Story

Comment #11

Nydebbie — Sat, 02 Mar 2019 05:45:34 GMT

I going to make you laugh . When I used to go to the store with my father . I would see a few customers in it. I would ask my father how he makes money . My father used to laugh. I never knew what he really was going until I was in High School.

Comment #10

TheMeatman2005 — Sat, 02 Mar 2019 04:40:16 GMT

I thought they used the last three numbers of the track handle. The track handle was the amount of total bets wagered on the races.

I suppose that each bookmaker used different ways to come up with their winning numbers

Comment #9

Soledad — Sat, 02 Mar 2019 04:12:50 GMT

Yep. The aqueduct was the one.

Comment #8

four4me — Sat, 02 Mar 2019 03:51:05 GMT

the bookmakers used to use the first 3 horses across the aqueduct race track finish line in the 9th race.

Comment #7

TheMeatman2005 — Sat, 02 Mar 2019 03:43:01 GMT

My late parents had a business on the Lower East Side in Manhattan. There was a guy who would go around taking numbers. Back then they paid $600 on a $1 bet.

Every year, when it was time for my brother to come home from college for the holidays, my Mom would hit a number straight for $600 (less a 10% [$60] tip). She then had $540 to pay for the airplane ticket plus lots of $$$ left over.

You didn't have to bet 50 cents or $1 on a number. They took bets for as little as 10 cents.

Comment #6

grwurston — Sat, 02 Mar 2019 03:05:31 GMT

Thanks Todd, for the great lottery history lesson

Comment #5

s5thomps — Sat, 02 Mar 2019 02:46:24 GMT

Leave it to the FEDS to want a piece of the action. I was surprised to read that the POLICY lasted into the early 1980's. It's a cash cow for the states and although a portion goes to Education, those with the power of the purse I'm sure are lining their pockets or giving kickbacks to special interest groups or people. It's the American Way

Comment #4

Raven62 — Sat, 02 Mar 2019 01:57:09 GMT

Interesting news story on the history of the lottery

Comment #3

Coin Toss — Sat, 02 Mar 2019 01:55:45 GMT

Nydebbie,

My father always said there wasn't a candy store or a news stand on the East Coast that could survive without 'numbers.

He used to play at one that was across the street from a Catholic church. So he goes to play one day,l there's the guy who runs the store, a cop, and a priest. All three start looking through magazines, the priest leaves then the cop leaves. The guy that ran the store was cracking up. My father asked him what was so funny and he said, The priest and the cop were... [ More ]

Comment #2

Nydebbie — Sat, 02 Mar 2019 01:48:51 GMT

My Grandfather had a Candy store in the Bronx ( Arthur Ave ) booked Numbers He never bet himself and never got arrested. He made a great living . He would open the store early in the morning take the numbers and close the store at noon. He would come home and go into the bedroom and listen to the races on the radio. Go back to the store around 4 paid out whoever won and book some more numbers .

Comment #1

Coin Toss — Sat, 02 Mar 2019 01:47:07 GMT

Good article Todd.

The game was also called policy .

The daily lottery was originally a Harlem game — then the government wanted in

Lottery Post — Sat, 02 Mar 2019 01:33:09 GMT

By Bridgett M. Davis

In the early 1920s, Casper Holstein, a black man from the Danish West Indies who worked as a porter for a Fifth Avenue store, liked to study the Clearing House totals published in a year's worth of newspapers he'd saved. The Clearing House was an operation that managed the exchanges of money among New York City banks on a daily basis. It occurred to Holstein that the numbers printed were different every day.

Until then, lottery games existed, but the winning numbers we... [ More ]