The Government Hates Competition
by Vince?Daliessio
The New York City DA's office raided a chain of illegal numbers operations throughout the city, and arrested the participants. By all accounts, it was an extraordinarily well-run operation that had lots of satisfied customers - the revenue estimate for the 110-location chain was $400,000 per month. So were they ratted out by disgruntled players that felt they were being cheated? No, they were not - the arrests came after a sting operation. In fact, the illegal "ring" was, if anything,?TOO customer focused. Apparently, a winning bet on an illegal?game paid off at 600 to one, whereas the State-run legal lottery only pays 500 to one. Go figure.