AdumbT tossed his cigarette and cleared his throat as he approached the podium in the middle of the street. He had been grinning all morning after Club Paradise had decided to bring the Paradise Lotto to the general public the previous evening.

“Hello and welcome one and all to The Paradise Daily Lottery. Thank you for your interest. I will be fielding any questions that you may have, but first, let's review the rules of the game. On behalf of Club Paradise, we wish you all the best of luck!!!”

AdumbT pulled out a 35mm kodachrome projector slide containing “THE RULES,” and after adjusting his voice a few more times, managed to begin again:

“Here are

THE RULES*:

*(Subject to change)

1. There is a maximum of 5 tickets per person.

2. The bet amount is $50,000 per ticket. Please send your payments to AdumbT.

3. You will receive a confirmation message from AdumbT after your payment is received. Please attach “ParadiseLotto” on the note with your ticket purchase. 

4. Your goal is to guess the correct price of Marijuana in Paradise, LV. Please post your guess(es) on this thread, after you have sent your payment to AdumbT. One ticket equals one guess.

5. The winning ticket is the person who guesses the correct price of Marijuana in Paradise, LV, plus or minus $5, after the price change at 00:05:00 game time each night. (E.g. if the price of Marijuana is $100, anyone who guesses between $95 and $105 will win.).

6. If two or more people guess within the winning range, the person with the closest guess will win. In the event of a tie, the pot will be split evenly between the winning players. If there is no winner, the pot will roll-over to tomorrow's Lottery.

7. You must submit your guess(es) one hour prior to the official game drawing at 0:05:00. This means you must pay and leave a post with your guess(es) here by, or before 23:05:00 the previous day.

8. Trolling will not be tolerated. Please respect the players and the House. This is an official, legitimate and honest business. Any signs of trolling will result in disqualification from the lottery and loss of tickets and/or proceeds, and a permanent ban from future lotteries.

9. A screenshot of the drug price at the specified time will be posted to this thread. A spreadsheet including the winner(s) will be posted here, and money will be transferred to the winner(s) immediately following the drawing.

10. The drawing will be held each day @ 00:05:00.

11. The pot will be determined by the total amount of money used to purchase the tickets, minus a 15% administrative fee. Winner takes all.

12. If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please contact Joseph_Ligambi, JohnScalise, or Frank_Ligambi in the event that AdumbT is not available." 

(Join us at IRC #ParadiseLotto for live updates and info.)

AdumbT let out a sigh after reading the exhaustive list, lit another cigarette, and took a drag. He was hopeful that this little venture would take off...

Beaming, he answered all of the crowd’s questions. 

Shortly thereafter, AdumbT left the streets and headed back to the casino, where he would restart his addiction to Dice, draining hundreds of thousands, chasing that lucky winning streak.

Criss was seated with a couple of the other big heads out of Paradise, Las Vegas. He was puffing on a thick cigar as he stared at AdumbT with pride and respect. He looked over to the few other men that were seated beside him and smiled to them.

"You know, I remember when this kid was just that. A kid. You guys remember when AT first became an associate of ours? Hell, we all went head over heels and had a man crush and the damn kid. I thought we had some hard workin' fellas in the family, but this kid? I have a hard time convincin' myself that he's a boss in the family now. Talk about comin' up quick eh?"

Criss had taken on some of the more simple tasks in creating this lottery. The real masterminds were The Ligambi Brothers, Johnny Boy Scalise and AT. This guys had a knack for coming up with the most wild business ideas, and the majority of them worked out too.

"I gotta say, I am proud of these guys Joey." Criss said to Joseph Ligambi. "AT and John have come a hell of a long way in this family." As Criss said this he pulled out a check and started writing off numbers on it. He signed it out to AdumbT, and waited for the young man to finish up his speech so he can hand him the 250, 000$ check.

Frankie fixed his tie and headed into the old warehouse building located in the industrial part of Vegas. It was amazing to him that in only a weeks time since he hung out with his crew they had already established the Paradise Lottery. It had only taken a small get together on a quiet Saturday afternoon and things had come together quite nicely.....

One week ago in the basement of the Paradise Club headquarters

Frankie had always enjoyed getting together with the boys for their weekly poker game and dice challenges. It was this atmosphere at the Club that he really enjoyed. All the wiseguys together telling jokes and stories laughing into the late hours of the night. He was really thankful to Uncle Joe for bringing him into this Cosa Nostra.

I brought out my favorite record and placed it into the record player. I dropped down the needle and filled the room with the music I very much enjoyed listening to. It brought me back to the old country where the wiseguys were true originals. They were always ready with a quick joke or an old saying. Wise guys and gangsters like Michael_Viglione, Domenico_Clericuzio and Joseph-Clemente. Guys who would crack jokes and skulls. Always quick with the humor and dependable with a shovel when we needed to bury some jamook.

As the music permeated thru the room I saw the boys getting together at the poker table.

I headed over with my wad of hundred dollar bills in my hand.

"Hey Uncle Joe you know I remembered this old saying Nona had about you, she used to say it's better to have you in a photo than at the dinner table!!" I said laughing.

---

"Oh yeah my poor Grand mama I almost drove her bankrupt, it's a good thing I moved out when I was thirteen. You know how Nona is always wanting to feed us and make us happy. Well when I came along she never could keep the table full. You know one time I ate 145 chicken wings" Joseph_Ligambi was famouse for eating his chicken wings.

---

"That's hilarious Joe. Hey tell us a good story from your childhood!" JohnScalise was asking as he stared down at his cards and raised the pot 125K. He didn't bother to look up at any of us, a sure sign tell he was bluffing.

---

It came around to me and I folded. I had the worst hand possible a 9 of spades and a 2 of diamonds. "No thanks. I'm out"

---

"So here's another one involving Nona. I'll keep it short though. The first time I was taken down to the police precinct I was 9 years old. Guess who came to take me home? Nona Luciana. Well on the car ride home she tells me - {Joe rascal you know a Wolf can always lose his hair but he'll never lose his habits!} - she knew I would always be a wiseguy. Even when I was little I was getting into trouble" Uncle Joe was a character. He was real quiet out in public and kept a stone face wherever he went out but down here in the basement with us he was always having a laugh. He never once looked down at his cards while telling the story and re raised Johnny's pot to 575K.

---

Everyone else folded and it went back around to JohnScalise. He looked down again at his cards and started to turn a light shade of pink. He too folded his cards and laughed. "Ahhh it's all yours Uncle Joe, you got the best of me! What do you got!!!" Scalise turned over an Ace - 10 suited.

---

Uncle Joe laughed again and flipped over his cards. He had a 9-2 off suit. There's nothing like a wiseguy with no fear.

---

"Sheeeeesh Joe you got me!" Scalise said. "Now that I'm in the hole I better think of something up! Hey how about we start our own lottery here in Vegas. Well call it the Paradise Lottery. Every once in a while you gotta get lucky!" He said emphatically

Uncle Joe ran with the idea and got together some brains to draw up the paperwork and also some enforcers to setup the venue and pay off the pertinent parties. It was becoming a reality.......

"The Paradise Lottery"