System

The way this system operated was very simple. Mr. Khatri, who ran his empire directly from his apartment in Mumbai, would draw three cards daily at 9:00pm and the face value of the cards would be totalled up. Often, Khatri would be 'requested' by his prominent acquaintances to draw the opening cards at another location, in the presence of celebrities/politicians etc. Within few minutes, Khatri's matka numbers would be transmitted all across the country and even as far as places in London, Dubai and Iran, thus proving the power and extensive reach of his network and making it an international business.

The game of matka is deceptively simple. Though cards are supposed to be drawn in a transparent manner in front of punters and patrons, it is not often the case. Operators are now using advanced manipulative and statistical methods in the matka business. The numbers which have minimum bets placed on them are drawn, resulting in gains of Rs 10 crore to Rs 12 crore for the bookies/operators on a daily basis. A bet of Rs 10 has the potential to result in Rs 1,500 for the better. Usually, a gambler tries multiple options/bets on a variety of numbers and combinations to make money.

To understand more about the workings of the game, lets say that, for example if the three opening cards drawn were the Ace of Spades, five of hearts and 9 of clubs. The opening number would be a sum of the three cards 1+5+9 = 15 The opening number would be 5 and the display on the walls of selected sites would show a "matka" or pot with the following legend
159 5x

If 2, 3 and 4 was the next three cards drawn at 12 midnight,the final display a few minutes after mid night would be 159 5x9 234

Betting will then take place on all the numbers, i.e. 159 or 234 or 59 or even 5 or 9 or all of them. For a 25 paise bet the returns are Rs 2.25.

The bookies all across Mumbai operate on kind of franchise. If the betting is heavy on a particular number and the punters won, bookies have been known to have disappeared overnight.