"One by one Schwiefka's shills would give place; as the winter night wore on, the stakes would grow higher as the air grew heavier and the marks grew lighter; to be replaced, one by one, like so many sausages into the same sure grinder. / [...] / Till Frankie would sit back wearily, sick of seeing them come on begging to be hustled, wondering where in the world they all came from and how in the world they all earned it and what in the world they told their wives and what, especially, they told themselves and why in the world they always, always, always, always came back for more. / [...] / ‘I hope I break even tonight,’ was the sucker's philosophy, ‘I need the money so bad.’"
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Frankie Machine dealing in the backroom of Zero Schwiefka's bar.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Man_with_the_Golden_Arm
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The Man with the Golden Arm
' (1949) is a novel by American writer Nelson Algren. It won the 1950 and was adapted into the 1955 film of the same name.
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