0:00

It's a Saturday night at my

0:02

local casino. You've got

0:04

craps, blackjack, insane carpet

0:06

design, no windows of

0:09

course, and that constant,

0:11

constant noise from the

0:13

slot machines. But the

0:15

noisiest corner tonight is at

0:18

the far end of the

0:20

casino floor, the latest addition

0:22

to the place, and you

0:24

can't miss it. A

0:27

giant blue orb hangs from the

0:29

ceiling. It's surrounded by a

0:31

ring of 16 massive TV

0:33

screens. And below that is

0:35

a never-ending scroll of text

0:37

winding its way around the

0:40

room. Names, numbers, stats that

0:42

seem to never ever repeat. The

0:44

best thing I could compare it

0:46

to is the set of a

0:48

cable news network on election night.

0:51

Or maybe the floor of the

0:53

New York Stock Exchange. That

0:55

big blue orb tells us

0:57

what it actually is. The

1:00

sports book. Tonight you've

1:02

got World Series baseball,

1:04

Yankees and Dodgers, as well

1:07

as a Celtics game and

1:09

a Bruins game, not to

1:11

mention a half dozen college

1:13

football games, all competing for

1:15

eyeballs and dollars. The money

1:17

line on the Yankees right

1:19

now is plus four ten,

1:21

meaning for every dollar you

1:23

bet, you'll get back four

1:25

dollars and ten cents on

1:27

a win. Not bad, but

1:30

obviously I'm not going to

1:32

bet for the Yankees. We're

1:34

in Boston. So mostly I sit

1:36

back and try to figure out

1:38

which of the many games people

1:41

here are actually cheering for. And

1:43

also wonder, are they

1:45

cheering because their fans?

1:47

or because they've got

1:49

money on the

1:52

line. Most Americans

1:54

can find some version

1:56

of this scene where

1:58

they live. And that, let

2:01

me tell you, is a

2:03

very new thing. Just a

2:05

few decades ago, outside of

2:08

Las Vegas and the racetrack,

2:10

gambling was illegal. Gambling was

2:12

the realm of gangsters. It

2:15

was a vice. So it

2:17

is truly wild how quickly

2:19

American society collectively decided, let's

2:22

give this gambling thing a

2:24

shot. We tried to outlaw

2:27

it. We tried to shame

2:29

it out of existence. Let's

2:31

own it instead. This show

2:34

is about how that transformation

2:36

began. It all starts with

2:38

gambling. A lot of fever.

2:41

Show us your lot of

2:43

tickets. My name is Ian

2:45

Koss. Welcome to scratch and

2:48

win from GBH News. It's

2:50

the unlikely story of America's

2:52

most successful state lottery and

2:55

how it took gambling from

2:57

the shadows and margins of

2:59

society into the corner store

3:02

onto your television and inside

3:04

the government itself. the fountain

3:06

of billions fed by the

3:09

greatest gambling instincts in America.

3:11

It's a story about state

3:13

bureaucrats going up against mafia

3:16

bookmakers. The big question mark

3:18

in this trial are the

3:20

secret tape recordings. About finances,

3:23

taxes, machine, politics. My advice

3:25

to you, Mr. Treasure, be

3:27

next time you as a

3:30

shredder. And about ruthless, restless

3:32

innovation. One hundred and five

3:34

million dollar jackpots. All driven

3:37

by the simple power. of

3:39

chance. I thought you said

3:41

it was a silly bet.

3:44

Well, we gotta have that

3:46

one in a million shot

3:48

there, you gotta have that

3:51

tripe. After. The first two

3:53

episodes drop on January 29th

3:55

on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Ihart,

3:58

wherever you listen. You