So, who runs the numbers in your 'hood? Here we can go to about any convenience store and try our luck. And nobody is going to bust you for trying your luck. See, the cops are in on it too. And forget about using ballots to get rid of the numbers racket, it was the politicians who set it up. Funny, isn't it? Gambling on numbers: early 20th century it's a criminal enterprise, late 20th century it's government-run.
Nobody gets to be a cowboy forever.
well they don't call it the 'super' lotto for nothing...
shareRunning numbers, when done privately, is still a criminal enterprise though. Today's profits from the numbers racket go towards the running of our own country. You would really rather NOT have that revenue? Seems like a win-win when it comes to petty gambling. The gamblers get a cheap thrill and the gov't gets money. Although the line can get blurry...
It is interesting in the US to see that selling booze was illegal at one point, and now (in places where you can't legally have private liquor stores), there are "state stores," which are state-run liquor stores. Then the numbers game, which is legal only when run by the gov't. I can't wait until a few decades from now when the gov't comes out with the Dope Shop, so all the junkies can legally get their fix. Too much revenue is being lost to drug lords, don't you think? ;-)
I grew up in Pennsylvania, which has state stores. Absolutely the WORST selection of likkers on the planet.
May I bone your kipper, Mademoiselle?
Interesting that the government allows itself a profit margin in the "numbers racket" that it would never permit a private gambling enterprise to see. They skim about fifty percent of the take off the top, and then connive to tax the winnings. They do the same thing when they run the liquor stores. At least in Maryland they provide a good selection (county rather than state. The state defers liquor control downhill to the counties).
I dread to think what we would see when the government gives itself permission to sell drugs.