The Morning Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Okla.) 1919-1927, 1922-05-07
Italian Government Game
of Chance Prosperous
Tool for CRATER
WINNERS SELDOM WIN
If They Bet on Right Mum
ber "Slickcrs" Trick Them,
Except Small Wagers


tcCtive Sergeant Michael Fashctti |
sat smoking a large cigar. In his |
hand he held "A number OF paper |
slips cnch with a mystic group OF /
letters and figures ON 1t.
policy ho mused. 81 ana my
men raid the players aud raid them |
again, but as soon as They get ont of
Jan they hunt for tho nearest place /
10 gamble their money what can
you do when people are born darn
foola2'
"Arc tho New York people so
crazy about playing the Eomo?" he
was asked.
"Ncw Yorl's Italians are" he an
swered. And there's not ono chance
/ in Il thousand OF their being de-
clnred winners. II they win they
/ lose. We tell them about II, but
| thoy will not listen"
The policy game the New York
/ foreigners play is conducted official
/ ly by the Italian government Tho
drawings nro held In eight cities --
/ Naples. Bari, Florence, Milan, palor-
mo. Rome. Turin and Venice. Nine
Ity numbers are placed In an urn and
Ia hliudfoldcd boy draws five slips.
| Fortunes can BE Won by Lucky.
Tho method OF betting Ia fHsCin1t-
/ ing. The player may bet on one,
] two. three. four or five numbers
graded according to tho law OF
chance. II he bets on two numbers,
FOR instance, the odds are arranged
so that hG gets a fairly large prize
should his numbers be among the
/ five selected. If he bets ON five
numbers, the odds against hia call
ing the entire five that are selected
. ~ ahn1lH ha Krln
he gets one-half billion lire for one
which is some little return. And
quite II fow long shot players have
galloped homo with 1t.
But here is the point: Those win
lners on two numbers, those on five,
always are In Italy. never In Amer
lea. A group OF New York manipu-
lators makes n book of the Italian
lottery.
Fine, wen play IT," the New York
1tplinna Hny. "Our mother country
Ia running 1t. so 1t must be all right,
i OF course"
Their mother country runs II
, squarcly enough. but what the man
/ ipulators do to tho returns is n
/ shame During the early part OF
! every week they have sold their
: tickets in New York and given the
lhet on. Tho drawing is held In Italy
4 Friday. and the winning numbers are
/ Icablcd to New York In secret code
\ every Friday night.
/ Tho manipulators get tho returns
& go over them carefully with the
3 numbers they have issued In tn,
y earlier days Of the week. and IL any
10 Of the numbers coincide--if any oi
G tho players win--tho manipulation
{ change the list OF winning numbers
V they have received by cable, anc
turn In TO the players n report thnl
E shows the gamblers just lost out
Dozens, II not hundreds. Of per
- sons who have bet their money II
n New York have won large prizes. 4
q the Italian figures were HANDED
s them as drawn, instead Of beinI
y tampcred with. Only the very small
: investors arc paid off by the manip
G ulators, and those Just TO keep M
- the appearance OF someone winninI
< In the game. Tho big plungers nevci
= have been allowed to win.
Il Bet on Their Dreams.
- How do people know what mum
II bers 70 bet on in policy?
. To the average American mind !
appears TO be the craziest busincs
It IN the world; the players bot OF
= "hunchcs' and the "hunches" usual
@ " are evolved from what the
y dream. Find 100 policy players Il
81 any town In the world over, AM
y youll find that 90 OF them hav
o dream books" and put faith Il
'' them Just as "A follower Of the horse
g does In his racing form.
'I Suppose a New York Italian hh
eaten Welsh rareblt .iOr supper am
- dreams Of such widely varied object
as an elephant, a steamboat and
ipair of dice Does he wake up b
tho morning and vow never again I
W look. late at night, upon choc7
when II f. hCt? Not SO you cOul
notice II. He hastcns TO his cabal
At the name tho Italians give thei
81 dream book"--aud looks up th
~ numbers In II for elephant, steam
=, boat, dice. Then he bets on thos
, numbers:
i one week several years ago Vo9u
4 yius began TO rumble, smoke an
give out those warning signs
%, peasants living Ia her foothills tina
~ mean, Get out. I'm coming do"
~ on yoy"
os They got out, but not before tho
to had hastily thumbod their clbal
a and found the number that corrof
10 poudod with volcano. TO "A man the
re laid their money ON II, and variou
other numbers that meant smok'
, ashes. ruin, etc. and, stranger
W enough, eHch number came up
% the next Frldays drawing and Oh
~ Italian government lost millions
lire.
A Dream Tint Puzzled.
An old man on New York's oa'
% side dreamed one night that he "a
his mother lowering over his bed,
"Mamma mia" he said, Tell m
80 tho numbers that will win the 10
~ tCry this week"
sho told him 20. 35 and the
~ standing on one leg--quite fe'
a. for a woman OF her age--she crosse
"a. the ankle Of the second over n
X. knee Of the first,
"What, mammal" the italian In
.e, plored. Twenty, 35, and what
n. She replied nothing. hut crosse
W. the anklo OF one leg over the knf
ed Of the other again.
he The Italian woke up In the morr
ry ing frantic. Winnlng on two be
80 would bring him a small-slzed prof
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