ABSTRACT
New Jersey introduced its own legal version of the Numbers Game in 1975, with Pick-It, the first modern state lottery allowing players to pick their own numbers. Pick-It called for players to choose their own three-digit number and match it against the state's drawn number. This was a pari-mutuel game, one whose payoff varies based on the number of tickets sold. In Massachusetts, the Numbers Game was launched in 1976 in an effort to compete with illegal numbers games. A four-digit number is drawn twice daily, in the middle of the day and in the evening, and the pay table includes payoffs for matching the digits in order or out of order. Many state and national lotteries offer their own games which mimic the Numbers Game by inviting players to select a favorite 2–6 digit number and compare it to a number drawn each afternoon or evening.
