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A predecessor to state-run lotteries in the 1960s and '70s that thrived in poor neighborhoods. The number was determined on a given day, by taking the second and third digits from the total amount of money in bank clearances from a predetermined bank, and the third digit in the Federal Reserve Bank's credit balance. On a day when the bank clearings were $589 million and the Fed's credit balance $116 million, the "89" from the first amount was combined with the "6" of the second to establish the day's winning number, 896.
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