Pull-tabs-tickets -

Elias had a technique. He didn't use his nails; he used a lucky nickel from 1958. Rrip. Rrip. Rrip. The perforated windows popped open like tiny shutters. Two lemons and a bar. Zero.

The neon sign for "Barney’s Tap" flickered with a rhythmic hum, casting a jagged blue glow over the damp sidewalk. Inside, the air was a thick cocktail of stale hops and the papery scent of hope—the smell of . pull-tabs-tickets

"Another stack, Marge," Elias said, sliding a crisp twenty across the bar. Elias had a technique