Policy dealing is closely allied with the lottery business, and is
carried on by the agents for their own benefit. It is one of the most
dangerous forms of gambling practised in the city. It consists of
betting on certain numbers, within the range of the lottery schemes,
being drawn at the noon or evening drawings. You can take any three
numbers of the seventy-eight, and bet, or "policy" on them. You may bet
on single numbers, or on combinations. The single number may come out
anywhere in the drawing. It is called a "Day Number," and the player
deposits one dollar in making his bet. If the number is drawn, he wins
five dollars. The stake is always one dollar, unless a number of bets of
the same description are taken. Two numbers constitute a "Saddle," and
both being drawn, the player wins from twenty-four dollars to thirty-two
dollars. Three numbers constitute a "Gig," and win $150 to $225. Four
numbers make a "Horse," and win $640. A "Capital Saddle" is a bet that
two numbers will be among the first three drawn, and wins $500. A
"Station Number" is a bet that a given number will come out in a certain
place--for instance, that twenty-four will be the tenth number
drawn,--and this wins sixty dollars. Any number of "Saddles," "Gigs," or
"Horses," may be taken by a single player.
All this seems very simple, and indeed it is so simple that the merest
child ought to understand it. The policy dealers know that the chances
are always against a single number being drawn, and still greater against
the drawing of a combination. Therefore they offer an enormous advance
upon the amount staked, knowing that they are as sure of winning as they
could desire to be. A man might play policy for a year, and never see
his numbers drawn. Yet thousands annually throw away large sums in this
wretched game. A large share of the earnings of the poor go in policy
playing. It seems to exercise a terrible fascination over its victims.
They concentrate all their efforts on devising systems and lucky numbers,
and continue betting in the vain hope that fortune will yet reward them
with a lucky "gig" or "saddle." All the while they grow poorer, and the
policy dealers richer. The negroes are most inveterate policy players.
They are firm believers in dreams and dream books. Every dream has its
corresponding number set down in the books. To dream of a man, is one;
of a woman, five; of both, fifteen; of a colored man, fourteen; of a
"_genteel_ colored man," eleven; and so on. A publishing firm in Ann
street sells several thousand copies of these dream books every month.
The negroes are not the only purchasers. Even men accounted "shrewd" in
Wall street are among the number. Indeed Wall street furnishes some of
the most noted policy players in the city.
The policy offices are generally dingy little holes, and may be
recognized by the invariable sign, "Exchange," over the door or in the
window. They are located principally in the most wretched quarters of
the city.
Visitors to the Lunatic Asylum and the Almshouse may see a number of
instances of the fatal results of policy playing.