Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(US gambling) in numbers betting, a particular combination of numbers (specifics unknown).

1879

Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 15 Nov. 14/3: Many a colored man and woman has pledged his or her shoes to get money enough to purchase a ‘gig,’ or a ‘cross-gig,’ or a ‘saddle.’ There are [...] such combinations as ‘dashboards’ and ‘whips’ but I am not well enough up in this particular ‘graft’ to clearly define its technicalities.