Policy Gaming in Postwar America

After the Civil War, participation increased significantly and gambling was soon to experience a renaissance.

The post-Civil War period was a time of industrial and territorial expansion.

Gambling was to play a significant role in that era. From 1870 to 1900, gambling flourished in the United States in a manner reminiscent of post-revolutionary activity.

From New York to San Francisco, gambling casinos dominated local economies, horse racing groups built lavish new racetracks, and policy games proliferated in urban neighborhoods.

Most states (with notable exception of Louisiana) had banned lotteries.

However, policy games were developed to fill that void.

Policy was based on the drawing of numbers from one to seventy-eight by spinning a wheel. Typically, twelve of fifteen numbers would be drawn, with players betting among them would be numbers of their choice.

Bettors could select from one to four numbers in various orders and sequences. The following depicts typical policy payouts:

Day Number--- Any number from one to seventy-eight played as one of the eleven to fifteen drawn and appearing anywhere on the winning list. On this policy shops paid 5 to 1.

Station Number--- A number played to appear in a specified position on the list. The odds were 60 to 1.

Saddle--- Two numbers to appear at anywhere on the list. Odds, 32 to 1.

Station Saddle--- Two numbers to appear at specified positions on the list. Odds, 800 to 1.

Capital Saddle--- Two of the first three numbers drawn. Odds, 500 to 1.

Gig--- Three numbers to appear anywhere on the list. Odds, 200 to 1.

Horse--- Three numbers to appear anywhere on the list. Odds, 680 to 1.

The actual odds of choosing any winning combination were obviously much lighter than indicated. For instance, more than 30,000 saddles, about 75,000 gigs, and almost 1.5 million horses are possible.

Dream books (used to select numbers) such as the Wheel of Fortune and Old Aunt Dinah's Policy Dream Book were popular best-sellers.

Policy tickets were sold by agents or runners who roamed the urban ghettos collecting bets. The runners typically received 15 percent of whatever they collected.

Although bets were often small, the volume of business proved extremely lucrative.

During the 1880s, New York City had over seven hundred policy shops, and a cartel called the Central Organization operated policy games in twenty cities, including Chicago, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Richmond, and Washington.

Policy, except in Louisiana, was never legalized, and operators continued in business by paying for protection from official harassment.

When policy operators failed to pay the required protection, they were subject to being arrested or closed down.

When, in 1870, many policy operators refused to pay for protection, police raided many policy shops in New York City. This action convinced the operators to pay up, and the next day they were all allowed to reopen their shops.

Those who ran the policy rackets often manipulated the numbers drawn to ensure that only a few bettors held winning combinations.

Regardless of illegality or chicanery, by the end of the nineteenth century, playing the policy was an established part of urban America. In New York City, for example, over one million persons are estimated to have purchased tickets regularly.