Every banking day at 11:30, a clerk at the New York Clearing House chalked up two figures, and by noon Harlem knew the number. On 31 December 1930 the Clearing House stopped publishing them. These are the last weeks, from that day’s paper.
12369CLEARING HOUSE
A red star means the papers wrote about her that week. The red ticket is the day you’re on, the striped one is the worked example from Playing the Numbers, and the ringed one is the last day. A violet dot means you’ve played it.
Your slip
Pick three digits, 000 to 999, and a bet. The runner takes it to the bank.
Drag across the board to wipe it
Bank clearings
Federal Reserve Bank credit balance
The number
Your shoebox
Every bet leaves a carbon stub. Players kept them. Yours pile up here, one for each day you play.
Stubs
The ruleThe second and third digits of the bank clearings, then the third digit of the Federal Reserve balance. Nobody in Harlem could fix it, which is why players trusted it. (Digital Harlem)
The odds1 in 1,000 to hit. Paid 600 to 1, minus the runner’s ten percent: 540 to 1. Play long enough and the bank always comes out ahead. Your ledger shows it.
The end of itAfter 31 December 1930 the Clearing House stopped publishing the figures, and bankers switched to racetrack payouts. So this game ends where the figures end.