Playing Housie at New York

A Penny Here a Pay Packet There

Housie expanded rapidly. By 1969 two out of every three city hotels had permits to run housie evenings on behalf of organizations, in some cases three nights a week. The game was unique in that it attracted a different clientele from other gambling games. Most of its devotees were women (who, in 1990, spent an average of $83 each year on the new-york lotterygame compared with $19 for men), and a disproportionate percentage of them were Maori; the building and maintenance of many marae came to depend on housie profit. Housie was played most commonly in hotels in working-class areas. A 1990 survey showed that, on average of those who played housie regulate $133 was spent each year by blue-collar workers, $94 by those with 'home duties', but only $8 by white-collar workers. In Auckland the biggest crowds attended games at Mangere, Otara and Otahuhu in Wellington, at Porirua.

Gaming Inspectors

In the 1970’s some social scientists called the proliferation of housie an 'epidemic' and worried about the effects on small children who were being left for hours in cars outside hotels and halls, or on stage inside while their parents, usually mothers, were engrossed in the new-york lottery game. Police and social workers also blamed housie for older, unattended children roaming the streets, which led to increases in vandalism and juvenile crime.
The law allowed for a prize limit of $24 on a maximum of 24 cards and each permit entitled an organization to a maximum of three hours' playing time. But as the games became more competitive, rules were bent. Less scrupulous organizers offered higher prizes and joined together to run continuous sessions, changing operators every three hours. While organizers were not permitted to be paid, some in South Auckland were apparently making a living from the game. Moreover, audited statements required by Internal Affairs were either not being provided or were being falsified. In February 1976 new regulations setting the hours of play, the size of jackpots, the cost of playing and conditions for permits came into force. Other regulations restricted housie games to organizations wishing to raise money for a specific purpose, such as a hall, marae or sports trip. But problems remained as the rules were easily broken. After numerous complaints, mainly from honest operators who were losing custom as a result, under-cover police and gaming inspectors began a clean-up campaign. Ten percent of operators were caught breaking the rules. They were closed down and had their licences revoked.

Playing Tips

There were other changes over time. Prizes were further restricted from 1982 and the completion of a single line was no longer enough to win a prize. For a period this caused a drop-off in attendances, and legitimate fund-raisers, aghast at their drastically falling profits, cried foul. It was time to reassess the game. Within eighteen months the new National government liberalized the rules. A standard charge per card was introduced and the line prize was reinstated. At the same time, police warned or arrested those operators who were selling more tickets than was allowed, ran overtime, or gave away too much prize-money.
But these problems were only the tip of the iceberg. By 1984 Minister of Internal Affairs Peter Tap sell was alleging massive housie 'corruption'. He was close to the truth. Organizers receiving the unemployment benefit were buying new houses and cars with unlawful housie proceeds. To win licences and attract sympathetic upon some were using fronts such as the Injured Players Foundation-which had no players at all, let alone any who were injured. In addition, housie callers were memorizing numbers so that planted people in the audience could win major prizes. Both callers and 'plants' were taking up to $80,000 a year each from their deceit. Tap sell fought back. From July 1984 he forced housie organizers to payout 70 percent of their takings in prizes ordered the use of new cards for each session to eliminate the possibility of cheating and instructed that auditing and record-keeping procedures were to be checked more vigorously. As a result, patrons at the bigger operations benefited from bigger prizes but smaller groups could not compete and closed.

Super Housie

In 1989 'super housie', where one game a night could be played up to $700, was introduced. In a move to get smaller operators back on the board, their licence requirements were relaxed and they were allowed to use the same cards for more than one session. Senior citizens' groups, where the cards cost $1 and line winners strategies collect not much more, were back in business. Today housie is an institution, and a profitable one. The Roman Catholic parish of St Joseph's in Grey Lynn, for example, rakes in more than $5°0 from its weekly housie evening. It is more than just a game; it is a fun-filled social occasion, an evening out for predominantly working-class women. For the elderly, infirm and lonely, it is often their only social .