The partners charged a percentage of the take for the rentals and were the only ones allowed to empty the machines. Valentín would usually make the rounds with an associate named Efrain Hernandez, who had been sent to Chicago to learn how to service the traganickels; and with Ardura, who received 2 percent of the profits, an amount equal to roughly half a million dollars a year, for bringing this business to Martín through his childhood friend. Fernandez Miranda himself was reported to receive a whopping 50 percent of the profits, which amounted to almost $1 million a month.
