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The Numbers Game: America’s Underground Lottery and the Arithmetic That Ran It

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Underground Lottery and the Arithmetic

A Daily Bet That Built an Empire in Plain Sight The Numbers game has always been illegal. It was invented in Harlem, New York City, about a century ago, 40 years before legal state lotteries. Bets were taken in person then, and players gambled on digits drawn from unpredictable clearinghouse totals, the records of exchanges … Read more

The Math Teacher Who Invented the Point Spread: The Charles McNeil Story

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Charles McNeil Story

The Most Influential Man in American Sports You’ve Never Heard Of Every weekend during football season, hundreds of millions of dollars change hands on the basis of a single number: the point spread. It determines whether you win or lose, whether your team “covered,” and whether an otherwise forgettable blowout keeps you watching until the … Read more

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