Yesterday I played the game of animals, “Jogo de Bicho” as it’s called in Brazil. Why am I playing a game of animals? Let me explain. Jogo de Bicho is a lottery played all around Brazil, and particularly popular in Rio de Janeiro where I am now.
In the USA and Europe, you have the Lotto, Power ball and Mega millions. Organized lottery, involving governments, with printed tickets sold in convenience stores across the country and televised drawings. Jogo de Bicho on the other hand is no where as nearly organized as Lotto, Power ball or Mega millions. “Bicheiros” are the ones who sell these tickets and you can find them on any street corner in Rio de Janeiro. All you have to do is pick an animal to place a bet and the payoff can be anywhere between 15-20 times the bet depending on the numbers you picked and results of the draw. What makes it so popular is that you can pick the amount of your bet. So poor can bet less and rich can bet more.
There are around 25 animals you can choose from with each animal having 4 numbers associated with it. You can pick one of the 4 numbers to place a bet. I picked elephant, which has 45, 46, 47 and 48 as its associated numbers. Out of this 4, I picked 45. Apart from this number you have to pick 2 more digits which go in front of 45. I picked 05 for this. So my number was 0545 and I bet 5 Reais (around US$3). The results came out today. You have to go check with the Bicheiro for the results. The results are on coupons like the one you see here.
All the 4 numbers matching has the highest payout. 3 numbers matching, for ex – 545 would have a lesser payout. I did not win anything. The number of the drawing was 0646. Damn! Missed it by a number! Should have picked 6 instead 5.
The game has an interesting history and you can read more about it at
Jogo De Bicho
No comments:
Post a Comment