The official line that the lottery shop owners give is that all satta operations have stopped. However, with a little more probing the answers are different: ``After the arrests three days ago, we only allow a few trustworthy regulars to stake money. The usual satta operations will again begin after about a week. It is very risky to start business immediately after a raid. Now, we are focusing on the state approved lottery only,'' a man standing at one of the shops said.

The bazaar was crowded with hundreds of people buying lottery tickets. There were tickets to suit everyone's pocket: Rs 2, Rs 5.50, Rs 11, Rs 50 and more. In fact, people begin crowding the place after around 8.00 a.m so that they can buy the first round of tickets.

The results for the first round are declared by 8.30 a.m. There are a maximum of 25 rounds to be run until the shops close. Some of the lottery tickets are available only at specific timings. For instance, the Jyoti group of lottery tickets are available after 10 a.m and the rounds go on till about 8 p.m.

A rickshaw puller standing at a shop was busy counting the money he had earned. It added up to Rs 60. ``He will spend all the money on the lottery tickets. I am sure he won't make any money. But until he spends all the money he won't go back,'' the man at the shop said.

Soon, he went back to his usual chant: ``Buy tickets for Rs 11. Results will be announced every half an hour. If you are in a hurry, you can leave after you buy the ticket. Leave your pager number. We will page you the winning number ....Buy tickets for Rs 11...'' He never seemed tired of repeating the same four sentences.

Another man trying his luck said: ``No one is happy here. The ones who lose crib about their bad luck. And the ones who win crib that they could have made more money had they invested more. It is a monotonous chant of permanent dissatisfaction with everything.''

``People who come here hang around here either till they spend all their money or till the shops close,'' a regular said. Around 1 p.m, many of the ticket buyers were having lunch today. ``You don't have to go anywhere else for lunch. You get a plate of rice and rajma for Rs 8 from the hawker who sits here everyday,'' he added.

Drunk or not, the lottery hopefuls often break into fights with each other. One of them bashed up another over a lottery ticket in front of this reporter. However, there were no constables in the area. There were three of them near Standard restaurant but not one in the lottery bazaar. The lottery operators claim that the recent transfer of the additional SHO of Connaught Place police station to the lines for aiding gambling in the lottery bazaar does not make any difference to them: ``What happens in the police ranks does not matter. The only precaution we take is not to operate satta openly just after a raid. However, as time goes by, things fall back into place and the raids are forgotten until the next one.''