The Numbers Game was very easy to play. First, a person had to come up with three numbers. These numbers could be made up from anywhere. Second, a person had to take his "lucky" numbers to a runner. The runners could be found throughout the city of Harlem. The runners would take the money and the numbers of the men to the place where the numbers were drawn.

In the novel, Rinehart is identified as one of these runners. At any one time, over five million dollars worth of change could be going through the city. Some of the runners were called "pencils." This occurred when they wrote numbers on their arms, and if they were chased by the police, they could lick the numbers right off their arms.