New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-05-14
How Gamblers Pare Off Gilt from Gilded Youths

necessarily a machine Of hairweight deli
cacy. 1t costs lot Of money. and II takes
fine. smooth hand TO work II right. But
the winnings always justify tho outlay
and the delicate work. Roulette is a pet
Of the rich man. The pleasant stacks If
the long green that decorate the tables
often remind the poetic onlooker OF tho
broad fields OF verdant alfalfa out In Kan
sas.
Even the poor man is not to be denied
the privilege of giving away his nickels.
The policy game still is a favorite, accord
ing TO those who keep I'm touch with the
situation. The policy shops were almost
wiped out OF New York eight years ago.
but some are still running in the back
parts OF dingy cigar stores and groceries.
The police do all they can TO break up tho
games. but II is like all other forms OF
gamblng-it probably will never be COM
pletely eradicated as long as man has tho
hunger for easy money.
One OF the latest wrinkles on the policy
game is to use the names OF well known
securities that make the hve-cent sucker
think he is specializing In the stock Of
some big concern.
The policy game is something Of an out.
growth of the lotteries The writer" as
the man IS called who runs tho game.
makes out card with two columns Of fg-
ures, usually containing about twenty-four
numbers TO each column. He prints tho
numbers himself in red ink with Q rubber
stamp set. At the top Of this card is
printed some name that inspires tho
player" with onfidence-"Anaconda Min
Company, Ltd" The player gets the
idea that he is playing the market Just -
they do down in Wall Street
The sucker understands that there are a
couple OF drawings each day In which num-
bers corresponding to those on the policy
card are placed in hat and drawn out by
some honest person who wouldn't think OF
cheating. The player picks conbina-
ton Of numbers-usually one from each
column-and bets that they will be among
the numbers drawn from tho hat. Most OF
the tickets cost five cents. Rarely they run
as high as % cents. But there are many
policy shops that do not scorn tho pennies
OF the children-a young East Slider ca0
plunge 10 the extent of cent and run the
chance OF making ten cents II he wins. The
man who stakes a nickel stands to win u
cents II he Is a good guesser.
AS matter OF fact there II no such
thing as drawing OF numbers. The
writer" simply takes the duplicate slip.
showing all the combinations OF numbers
that have been played He picks out tho
combination that has been played lightest
and announces to the players" that II Is
the winner. In this way he may have TO
pay out only dollar on some set OF num-
bers that had only two hackers. He pock-
cts all tho rest-and all the rest usually
runs between s. and So
II he IL really crooked policy man he
may simply announce TO his players In
turn that they lost and thereby pocket all
the money. Often he can make the win
ming combination from set Of numbers
that haven't been played at all. supersu-
tlous persons have happy habit OF help
ing the writer" out by backing some
popular duet like iii or ~. And the
unlucky IS usually has band Of admirers.
All this is we'll as II punches the bets and
makes Il easier for the writer" to pick
a number that hasn't been heavily played.
And no matter how often the crookedness
of the game Is shown up. nor how many
lambs describe how they have been robbed
of their golden fleece, the cold-eyed boys
with the deft fingers will still find enough
| easy marks TO keep them In big diamonds.
E. 8. TISDALN