Illegal Gambling, Numbers, Dice, Bookmaking (1970s)

[Music] d this is a businessman his business is organized crime his products include gambling narcotics Vice lone sharking stolen goods labor racketeering and goons For Hire illegal gambling brings in his biggest profits working capital to finance other criminal activities bribery and Corruption of public officials including some police officers almost always accompany large scale illegal gambling the law enforcement officer must avoid any such involvement besides corrupting the community he has sworn to protect involvement puts him in personal Jeopardy from local statutes and from the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970 this provides Federal penalties for public officials who conspire to obstruct enforcement of local laws against gambling besides protection organized crime provides layoffs service for bookmakers and numbers operators two of the largest illegal gambling activities this call comes from the office of a numbers operation the office manager may be called a controller the office a drop checkup or Counting house the clerk's inside men varying with the locality here numbers bets are received and tallied necessary records kept numbers operations take B on number groups usually three in a given order digits are determined by drawing as in policy and Bita or by daily published figures such as paramutual payoffs treasury balances or Stock Exchange action a lookout guards the outer door to the numbers office but this and the other elaborate security precautions are no match for good police work a Stakeout team has the building which houses the numbers office under visual observation binoculars pick up significant details of visitors and their cars a telephoto camera records any suspicious activity to be later used as evidence from this command post the officer in charge maintains radio contact with other police units prepared to coordinate the coming raid with Citywide arrests of numers salesmen the number salesman is usually called a writer he may work a regular route or from a fixed place of business most of the bets are small but the days total will be surprisingly large the marker lists the three-digit number and the amount bet markers are prepared for secure delivery to the pickup man or Runner but number sellers need customers they cannot long remain unknown to the police winning numbers are called hits the rider pays off is few lucky winners the payoff on a straight three number bet runs from 400 to 600 to1 smaller odds are paid on Cut numbers those heavily played because of superstition or other reasons correct odds should be 999 into one this differential leaves a small percentage for the writer huge profits for the numbers operation the temporarily happy winner is not the target the stake out waits for bigger game the runner works for the office or bank that owns the numbers operation he controls as many riders as he can handle he makes his pickup like an ordinary customer to avoid detection this time it doesn't work work his departure is noted and the command post watching the numb office is alerted for his arrival the runner reaches the innocent seeming outer door of the numbers office the lookout signal clears him through the secured door [Music] inside unit five take the lookout as planned it is the last free action the lookout will make for some time the heavy door with its alarm system is opened for the runner bringing in the last of the day's bets the cache has probably been rooted separately to another location called the bank headquarters or Clearing House the clerks have run up the totals and the controller is ready to make any necessary layoffs on heavily played numbers through an agency of organized crime a paramutual payoff at a distant track determines the final digit of the winning number unit three Lookout neutralized move on in police we have a warrant open up police open up or we're coming in judicial approval May authorize immediate entry without waiting for permission know what method of Entry is authorized in your case all surveillance units proceed with pre-planned arrests when there is no longer danger of premature tip off the small fry of the numbers operation are [Music] arrested with the subjects from the numbers office on their way detectives are collecting identifying and preserving the evidence some of it partially burned but salvageable by good laboratory work the patrolman guarding the rear exit during the raid brings in the important records that literally fell into his hands usable evidence results from good police work planning the raid for maximum evidence and for Swift entry to prevent its destruction effective uncompromising law enforcement can make numbers operations increasingly hazardous and unprofitable illegal dice or card games and gambling casinos are often linked with organized crime and the corruption which is its trademark gaming may be found in the plush legalized gambling cinos of Las Vegas it may also be found in illegal floating dice games often set up in hotel or motel rooms for their one night stands the equipment can be transported in a suitcase every part of it from the layout to the dice is suspect so are the operator and his assistant some players are regulars informed of the floating location many are trents looking for action and are easy to cheat safely to find these marks the operator uses steerers taxi drivers bartenders Bellman this driver is kept posted on the game location and will get a fee or percentage for the Apparently half drunk well-healed sucker he brings to the scene of the action a Confederate keeps watch in a separate room ready to Signal an alarm he may also double a strong armed man in case a loser starts trouble it is to the Lookouts room that the steerer has sent his passenger to the cold and experienced eye of the lookout this half drunk sucker looks ripe for picking he gives him the room number of the floating crap game and signals the operator to expect him this time they had the wrong sucker a suddenly sober undercover detective his concealed mic gets word to the team waiting below unit 5 this is T1 the lookout in 514 has an alarm buzzer in the door frame I'm proceeding to the game in 519 monitor me and execute the plan when gambling is established unit five to all units proceed as planned come on that's [Music] 10 the hard seven beautiful beautiful beautiful how about some chips chips I have a little chip what's that wor about $20 about 20 take a big 20 there for you little chips hey here we go here we go here we go they running what's what's the point what's the point 10's a point 10's a 10's a point eight okay baby okay come on there all right I think statutes concerning players in an illegal game vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction okay give me the dice give me the dice next shooter let me get place your bet all right let's go just freeze police freeze put there's no question anywhere about the arrest of the operator and his Confederates besides police testimony the case will depend upon the considerable amount of physical evidence and its nature it will be carefully identified marked and preserved for the trial good police work by an undercover detective has put this illegal gambling operation out of business bookmaking is a most profitable Enterprise for organized crime which provides two essential services to the individual bookmaker laying off his bets and Furnishing the information he needs to calculate his odds the largest amounts of money are bet on sports events football basketball ice hockey and baseball ball horse betting wants the bookmaker standby is next in volume a successful bookmaking operation depends upon rapid relay of odds line information and results expert Sports handicappers often employed by organized crime provide the analysis upon which odds are based team and player records and condition location of the game probable weather the bookmaker uses longdistance phone to get this information fast and frequently he also makes out of town calls to the bankers of organized crime to lay off his bets and keep the book in Balance something like us so that these incriminating toll calls are not charged to the apartment he rents for a few hours each day he has attached to the telephone an electronic device the blue box like all evasive devices it violates Telephone Company regulations the blue box circuitry permits the user to make toll-free unrecorded and untraceable calls wherever direct distance dialing is available through the blue box phone the bookmaker gets the latest point spreads on the college games he is booking on football or basketball the better usually Wagers $11 on a pick them basis to win 10 point spreads reflect the handicapp or estimate of the competing teams baseball bets are usually placed at varying odds based upon the pitchers for the day as well as the team record to receive the incoming calls from betters on which his livelihood depends the bookmaker relies on several devices which may keep his location or private phone secret one is the backstrap a simple circuit which connects the bookmaker unauthorized extension to an authorized and listed telephone at a nearby but separate and clean location another way to prevent his incoming calls being traced or his location revealed is by installing a black box a somewhat more complex electronic device it absorbs the electrical impulses on incoming calls so that they do not record at the telephone company's central billing equipment this bookmaker however uses the more sophisticated cheesee box to conceal his location and private telephone number he maintains a private phone elsewhere than the apartment from which he works with a number known only to him he keeps an open line from his apartment to this phone at pre-arranged hours known to his customers they have a different number to call connecting them with still another phone which may be in an empty room or other clean location this call is Switched through the cheese boox to the bookmaker private phone also in a clean location then during the hours that he monitors this phone from his apartment he can converse with the customer who has called an entirely different number to reach him other elements in the elaborate screen of deception may be markers or records on instantly disposable water soluble or Flash paper but even the tightest screen will not Shield against vigorous and uncompromising police work informants are a prime source for discovery of illegal gambling they may be on a police payroll regular betters competitors or disgruntled employees this is a housewife who has discovered where most of her husband's paychecks are going pting on Sports she gives the detectives the accommodation number that she knows her husband called calls to make Wagers even then it is not easy to find the bookmaker actual location the telephone company will Aid in tracing it through the Maze of electronic evasion having located the apartment that the bookmaker works from a few hours each day they keep it under surveillance they learn the daily routine and plan for a legal yet fast entry when the action is heaviest evidence most plentiful the bookmaker is off the cheesebox open line with all bets in for that day he finds that to balance his book and ensure a profit he must lay off some heavily played teams it is time to call the bookmaker bookmaker almost always an agent of organized crime layoff is Big Business Without It few bookmakers could operate his heavy work over he waits expectantly for delivery of his daily sandwich information leads to investigation investigation to surveillance surveillance to apprehension it pays off armed with a warrant police plan their raid when the maximum evidence would be on hand and with minimum chance for its destruction there is no no cooperation from the bookmaker but their continuing investigation will uncover other evidence the unauthorized electronic equipment the testimony of the not so innocent owners of the apartment they find the water soluble paper on which the bets were written and a little black notebook listing the bookmakers layoff and line OD sources they lead directly to organized crime without organized crime to bank numbers lay off bets protect gaming and bribe some officials and police officers illegal gambling could be stopped Two Gentlemen from the FBI to see you sir you the officer must be aware of the connection between illegal gambling and organized crime only honest aware and informed law en Enforcement Officers can bring the organized criminal before the bar of Justice only Incorruptible impartial and Stern Justice can make him pay for his crime you must be informed on the major types of illegal gambling their MOS and the applicable gambling statutes in your jurisdiction you must be trained in effective techniques to discover the illegal gambling operation through informance observation and investigation to follow the operation as close to the top as possible to plan the arrests so as to acquire and preserve the necessary evidence for conviction [Music]