There are many peculiarities of the street gambling business which become the integral part of the player's experience in case he plays Kolkata FF for some time. Naturally, the newcomers have a number of questions: "Why not 6 AM? Why not 8 AM? Why inconvenient time?" The choice of 10:28 AM as the time of start of the 1st Baazi is far from random. The schedule of the morning round and interviews with some experienced players from Burrabazar and Howrah allow me to find out the reasons for such time.
The Street Economy Is Not Active before Late Morning
As it is well-known, Indian cities work according to the later schedule. While the tea shop opens in the morning, small agents, paanwala and stall owners who collect bets for the Kolkata FF game start their day at 9 – 9:30 AM. The collecting window for the 1st Baazi closes at 10:00 AM and gives one hour to the players. The dawn opening of the game would mean that half of the agents will not be active yet. Therefore, 10:28 AM is the earliest time for full participation in the game.
The Matka History Determines This Time
As Kolkata FF is the evolved version of the older traditions of satta matka, its schedule determines the schedule of today despite the change in the rules. The time of the game was determined by the rates of the New York and Bombay cotton exchange which were announced in India in mid-morning and established the schedule of the matka games. The period of the cotton rates is over, but the tradition of starting the first numbers at a certain time persists. In case of the Kolkata FF appearance, the schedule has changed a bit, but not the timing as the community expects it.
The Dawn Opening Would Ruin the Tipping Culture
It is one of those aspects of the FF gambling which are often underestimated. The tipping culture of Ghosh Babu, Goswami Dada and other famous tippers requires some morning hours for preparing daily numbers. The chart analysis is made using the results of the previous 8 baazi game. In case the 1st Baazi starts at 6 AM, the tippers would have little time for making the analysis and posting the numbers. The 10:28 AM gives them 13 hours for doing that between the end of the 8th Baazi and the start of the 1st Baazi.
The Office and Wage Workers Need the Late Morning
It should be noted that there is a mixed audience of the Kolkata FF game. On one side, there are office workers who want to place their bet during the morning tea break at 9:45 AM, and on the other side, there are daily wage workers who get their first clients by 10 AM. Hence, the late morning opening suits everyone without rush. In case the results would be posted at 8 AM, the office workers would be on the way to work by metro, and daily wage workers would just start getting ready for work.
The Police and the Factor of Grey Zone
This is the rather confidential reason for choosing 10:28 AM which has never been openly stated by any experienced player. The Kolkata FF operates in the grey zone in West Bengal and used to raid in the early decades at the time of dawn collection. The shift of the betting window into the late morning helped the agents to avoid the most vulnerable period of the day. It sounds a bit suspicious, but quite a few old school players have said about it during our conversation. This is the usual scheme of the informal market organization in India depending on the police schedule.
Why 10:28 and Not Round Numbers Like 10:30?
This is the oddest question about the Kolkata FF game. The truth is that the answer is rather vague. The most common explanation is that the original announcement system which was offline and physical at that time was based on the dice or token draw which required some additional minutes after the closing of the betting window at 10:00 AM. The 28-minute gap became the standard. After moving Kolkata FF online, the 10:28 remained the same as changing it would mean the complete revision of the schedule including the intervals of 1.5 hours. Hence, 10:28 AM is basically the relic of the offline period.
What It Means for the Player
If you are playing or tracking the results of the Kolkata Fatafat, this means that you can wake up at a decent hour. There is no FF chaos at 7 AM. You can have your breakfast, read the newspaper and start checking the chart only after 9:30 AM. Unlike the high-frequency betting markets which work in the mornings in other countries and start at 6 AM, the Kolkata FF is civilized in terms of its starting time.
Conclusion
The late morning opening of the 1st Baazi is not accidental. This is the result of the street economy timetable, matka history, the needs of the tipping community, audience demographic structure and even the police attention avoidance problem. Once you know all this, 10:28 becomes quite a logical and reasonable compromise. It tells much about the city where it operates.
