Often in movies or TV shows that deal with gangsters/mafia back in the 20s-30s, the make reference to a racket known as “running numbers.” From the context (and from various Google searches), I’ve been able to determine that it is some kind of illegal lottery. Which aed me to the following questions:
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How are the winning numbers determined? Did the Mob use ping pong balls?
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Why would someone have any faith that the Mob was picking these numbers entirely at random, and not just picking numbers that no one else had picked and/or picking numbers that enriched their friends or other business associates?