Matka gambling or satta matka is a form of betting and lottery which originally involved betting on the opening and closing rates of cotton transmitted from the New York Cotton Exchange to the Bombay Cotton Exchange. It originated before Indian independence when it was known as Ankada Jugar. In the 1960s, the system was replaced with other ways of generating random numbers, including pulling slips from a large earthenware pot known as a matka.
originally in this game, betting would take place on the opening and closing rates of cotton as transmitted to the Bombay Cotton Exchange from the New York Cotton Exchange, via teleprinters.
In 1961, When the New York Cotton Exchange stopped the practice, the punters to look for alternative ways to keep the matka business alive. Ratan Khatri, who was a sindhi migrant form Pakistan introduced the idea of declaring opening and closing rates of imaginary products and playing cards. Numbers would be written on pieces of paper and put into a matka, a large earthen pitcher. One person would then draw a chit and declare the winning numbers.
In 1962, Kalyanji Bhagat started the Worli matka. His matka ran every day of the week, whereas Ratan Khatri's matka ran only five days a week, from Monday to Friday and later as it gained immense popularity.