bet numbers

The Red Snake Roulette bet is a type of roulette bet.
When looking at a roulette table layout, the red snake bet begins on the red number 1 and continues "snaking" its way down the table through red numbers 5, 9, 12, 14, 16, 19, 23, 27, 30, 32, ending on 34. All the numbers included in the bet are red and they must be touching each other.
It may seem that a player's chances to win with the red snake bet are increased by the sheer volume of numbers covered, but roulette is a game of chance and the odds of landing on any of the red numbers covered by a bet are random.
Chris Ditchburn, an experienced roulette croupier (and presenter of Live Roulette TV on Sky Channel 847) has stated that no serious player in their right mind would consider placing this bet, as there is no notable reason to do so aside from than the pattern it makes on the table. However it is no different than making any other combination of bets at any time, as the house edge on all bets in roulette is equal (except for the five number bet where the house edge is higher).
Retrieved from The numbers game, or policy racket, is an illegal lottery played mostly in poor neighborhoods in U.S. cities, wherein the bettor attempts to pick three or four digits to match those that will be randomly drawn the following day. The gambler places his or her bet with a bookie at a tavern, or other semi-private place that acts as a betting parlor. A runner carries the money and betting slips between the betting parlors and the headquarters, called a "numbers bank" or "policy bank". The name "policy" is from a similarity to cheap insurance, both seen as a gamble on the futureThe game dates back at least to the beginning of the Italian lottery, in 1530. Policy shops, where bettors choose numbers, were in the U.S. prior to 1860. The penny and dime games opened up numbers to even the poorest. One of the game's attractions to low income and working class bettors was the ability to bet small amounts of money. Also, unlike state lotteries, bookies could extend credit to the bettor. In addition, policy winners could avoid paying income tax. Different policy banks would offer different rates, though a payoff of 600 to 1 was typical. Since the odds of winning were more like 1:1,000, the expected profit for racketeers was enormous. In the northeastern United States this game was known as the "Nigger Pool", because of its presence in poor African-American communities.[2] The game was also popular in Italian neighborhoods, and it was known in Latino communities as "bolita" ("little ball"). In 1875, a report of a select committee of the New York State Assembly stated that "the lowest, meanest, worst form ... [that] gambling takes in the city of New York, is what is known as policy playingOne of the problems of the early game was to find a way to draw a random number. Winning numbers were set by the daily outcome of a random drawing of numbered balls at the headquarters of whatever local numbers ring. The daily outcomes were publicised by being posted after the draw at the headquarters and were often fixed. Rigging games to cheat players, and drive competitors out of business, led to the use of the last three numbers in the published daily balance of the United States Treasury. The use of a central independently chosen number allowed for gamblers from a larger area to engage in the same game and it made possible larger wins. When the Treasury began rounding off the balance many bookies began to use the "mutual" number. This consisted of the last dollar digit of the daily total handle of the Win, Place and Show bets at a local race track, read from top to bottom.
For example, if the daily handle was:
Win $1001.23 Place $582.56 Show $27.61 then the daily number was 127.
By 1936, "The Bug" had spread to cities such as Atlanta where the winning number was determined by the last digit of that day's New York bond salesFrancis A. J. Ianni, in his book Black Mafia: Ethnic Succession in Organized Crime writes: "By 1925 there were thirty black policy banks in Harlem, several of them large enough to collect bets in an area of twenty city blocks and across three or four avenues." By 1931, there were several big time numbers operators, James Warner, Stephanie St. Clair, Casper Holstein, Ellsworth Johnson, Wilfred Brandon, Jose Miro, Joseph Ison, Masjoe Ison and Simeon FrancisDutch Schultz is said to have rigged this system, thanks to an idea from Otto Berman, by betting heavily on certain races to change the Win, Place and Show numbers that determine the winning lottery number. This allegedly added ten percent to the Mob take. [6]
[edit] Odds and payoutA player's chance of winning on one number is one in 1,000. In illegal numbers games, depending on time and place, winning on most numbers may pay off as high as 800 to 1 or as low as 600 to 1. Typically, certain more popular numbers, known as cut numbers, have reduced payoffs, typically as much as 20% less than other numbers. The difference between the dollar amount of the tickets bought and the amount paid out is the vigorish, which the bookie keeps to cover overhead and make a profit for himself.
[edit] Legal versionToday, many state lotteries offer similar "daily numbers" games, relying typically on mechanical devices to draw the number. The state's rake is typically 50% rather than the 20%-40% of the numbers game. (Pennsylvania even calls its daily lottery "Daily Number".) Despite the existence of legal alternatives, some gamblers still prefer to play with a bookie for a number of reasons. Among them are the ability to bet on credit, better payoffs, the convenience of calling in one's bet on the telephone, and the avoidance of income tax.