Evening star., 1938-02-27
Numberteers Develop AGbis
For Welshu.g on Customers
Calling in Police to Seize Slips One of
Methods When Too Many
Followers Hit.

chance which made such an occur
renee 4 very remote possibility.
A professional man OF Washington
who plays the numbers regularly hit
for so cents He should have had
$500 coming back. less $50, the GUS
tomary 10 per cent which the player
gives the writer when the lucky Sc
quence is called. actually the game
pays. when it does, $40 to l. instead
Of the 900 to l credited to it gen.
eTslly) This investor in the daily
lottery didn't get his money.
Delay Offered as Excuse.
His writer explained that the run
ner hac been delayed and hadn't
reached headquarters until after 2
pm. the deadline for the arrival Of
slips
The professional man was skeptical.
He reminded the writer how much he
had paved without winning thin
dime, adding that he expected to be
paid. But no money showed up.
The disgruntled player called up q
friend at police headquarters and sug-
gested q policeman call on this outfit
and threaten trouble II this $270 wasn't
forked over. The player was told by
his friend that he could swear out a
warrant for the writer II he wanted,
deposing that he had bought lottery
ticket from him and the fellow would
be arrested. but the police could hardly
be expected to act as collection
agency.
"Oh, no. wouldn't swear out any
warrant the complainant said.
He made another squawk to the
numbers man. and finally the banker
sent $50 to the writer with word to
pay him that to shut him up" He's
still waiting for the rest.
Not that the larger numbers bankers
don't pay on, on average days-that's s
good business-but there are, as win
ners know to their sorrow, times when
they welsh, Offering one excuse or an
other.
Some Of the smaller operators, hit
hard, have taken what the boys call
run-out powder" and left town.
Certain numbers, statisticians Of the
game have learned, appear more often
than others. For instance, combina-
tlons like 366 or 666-doubles or triples
fell 80 out of 312 times in one year,
and the big-hearted bankers dropped
the odds on such digits from 900 to
400 to l. 1t won't do to give the
suckers too much Of q break.
Down in Richmond, Va, the author
tiles say, the numberteers pay only
500 to /.
A newcomer decided to muscle in
there in a big way, and he started
Offering TOO to l. One night some
gentlemen made his acquaintance at
a night club and said they wanted to
show him something outside. When
they got through massaging him with
blackjacks, he was in the hospital for
some time. Patched up at length, he
went back into business-at 500 to l.
Claim Outgo Is High.
Washington numbers bankers say
customers-playing such 4 vast array
of different numbers every day-hit
the right one for an average of so per
cent of the gross revenue and it's
necessary to take-well, certain pre-
cautions to keep from losing your shirt.
But observers are incline4 TO, think
these magnates of chance 3re overly
modest concerning their prj kfts.s
While some Of these bakers have
insisted they were lucky to met 8 per
cent after taking care ofSa terrific
overhead, including comm tssious Of
rs per cent to writArs and > pr cent
to runners. another, perhaps less
carey, admitted - ofacia1a that he
had nott1d no l1D than II pr eent.