# Whatever happened to the numbers racket?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-numbers-racket/680406>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 3, 2014, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-numbers-racket/680406 "2014-02-03T08:56:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-numbers-racket/680406/21 "2014-02-04T07:09:54Z")

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Trivia:

Now you know why the DJIA is reported to only two digits.

It was originally 3, but made the racket real easy to play - they needed another 3-digit bit of trivia which anyone could easily verify.

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**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-numbers-racket/680406/22 "2014-02-04T12:28:22Z")

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> [@Northern\_Piper](#):
>
> Previous thread: [Does the numbers racket still exist?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=692265)

And the most interesting cite from that thread:  
[Relics of the Bygone (and the Illegal)](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/23/nyregion/numbers-runner-a-rarity-is-arrested-in-harlem.html)

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**Author:** ![Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shinna_Minna_Ma)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-numbers-racket/680406/23 "2014-02-04T17:43:52Z")

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> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#):
>
> As I understand it, there was a time (I’d guess that was in the 30s and 40s) when this was a very popular racket and many people would wager a dime or some other small amount of money almost daily. They hoped for the thrill of winning $60 when picking the right number and wagering a dime.

My father told me several times that as a kid he would run errands for some guys running a numbers racket in Baltimore.

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