Page 108 - The Jazzsipper Novel

107

THE JAZZ SIPPER

up. But Larry put it best, he said that guys would go overseas and get blinded
by all the material wealth they would see up close and personal and lose their
minds.

Before the week was out, Dino and the other guys were old news. Vance
had started reading a book that he had brought with him from the States, it
was a fiction book called Tucker's People. The novel was a realistic depiction
of the numbers racket in Harlem during the 1920s. “Tucker’s People” by Ira
Wolfert which was turned into the movie “Force of Evil”, a classic 1950 noir
gangster film.

The book explained the numbers game and policy racket in this way, the
illegal lottery was played mostly in poor neighborhoods in U.S. cities, wherein
the bettor attempts to pick three or four digits to match those that will be
randomly drawn. The gambler places his bet with a bookie at a tavern or other
semi-private place that acts as a betting parlor. A runner carries the money
and betting slips between the betting parlors and the headquarters, called a
numbers bank or policy bank. The name policy is from a similarity to cheap
insurance, both seen as a gamble on the future the game dates back at least
to the beginning of the Italian lottery, in 1530. Policy shops, where bettors
choose numbers, were in the U.S. prior to 1860. By the early 20th century,
the game was associated with poor communities and could be played for as
little as $0.01. One of the game's attractions to low income and working class
bettors was the ability to bet small amounts of money. Also, unlike state
lotteries, bookies could extend credit to the bettor. In addition, policy winners
could avoid paying income tax. Different policy banks would offer different
rates, though a payoff of 500 to 1 was typical. Since the odds of winning were