Loteria

The loteria (a Mexican version of Bingo) has a European origin. It was played in France, Italy and Spain from where it arrived in Mexico in the XVIIIth Century. Nowadays lotería is still a very popular game in this country.The loteria is a board game. It consists of 54 images and at least one board for each player, in which there are 9 or 16 different arranged images, which correspond to ones the yeller has on cards. He takes one card at a time and chants the image on it while the participants mark the ones they have on their boards until they reach the number agreed upon for each game. That is, at the beginning of each game the players determine the specific goal: for example, they agree that the player that first completes the four corners and the center wins, or it can be a vertical, diagonal or horizontal line, a combination of several of them or the full board.

The first player to achieve the goal yells lotería and then it is verified that the chanted images correspond to the ones on the player's board. The ideal lotería yeller is one who does it in a funny and quick way, and first of all respects the main rule of this game: A chanted card will never be chanted again. The game requires concentration from the players and speed from the yeller.

Almost all of popular fairs in Mexico have a lotería stand where the visitors gather in order to play and win the prizes offered in exchange of a small fee that entitles them to play.

Each yeller chants the lotería in his own way. That is, instead of just calling the name of the picture they might chant a few verses to describe it. Here are some very well known examples:

He who lies under a great tree must watch out for a peeing bird...The tree

Even a sailor will get dizzy with the singing of a mermaid... The mermaid

The lady moves like a cup of hot chocolate as she walks... The lady

He who waits dispairs or marries miss Pear... The pear

The bricklayer drank so much that he ended up like a barrel...The barrel

Dandy Don Ferruco wanted to throw away his stick... The dandy

Give me the melon or take it away from me... The melon
It covers you from the sunlight as well as the rain... The umbrella

Be good, pal, or the red one will take you... The devil

Climb me one step at a time. Don´t try to make it one jump... The ladder

The drunk´s woman... The bottle

You can kill a tiger but are afraid of a whip... The brave

He sang for Saint Peter but won´t sing again... The rooster

Put the hat on the baby so he won´t get sick... The hat

Here comes miss skinny Death... The death

Green, white and red is the soldier´s flag...The flag

Parrot, shake your foot and talk to me... The parrot

Playing his mandolin is mariachi Simon... The mandolin

As it couldn´t be a violin, it had to be a cello... The cello

There is a bank on the other side of the river where my lady, who has a mouth like a heron, sits... The heron

You make me jump up and down like a bird on a branch... The bird

The longest hand is that of a criminal...The hand


LOTTERY TICKETS

Besides the picture loteria played by the young and the old, in Mexico there is a big tradition of lottery tickets. It is said that Mexico was the second country in the Latin American continent in which lottery became widely popular within the Law frame.

The Mexican National Lottery for Public Assistance was born more than 200 years ago. In 1772 the first lottery tickets were sold and in currently there are a lot of drawings which are very popular and successful.

The traditional ones are the Mayor, Superior, Zodiac and Magnum drawings and since 1990 the instant lottery games started with contents like El Tesoro del Pirata (the pirate's treasure), El Juego de la Oca (the goose game), La Olla de Oro (the golden pot), El Gato Millonario (the millionaire cat), Ruleta Millonaria (millionaire roulette), Peguele al gordo (hit the fat man) and Rasca y gana (scratch and win). The latter are still around and their main feature is their low prices and very simple procedures.

The National Lottery for Public Assistance gives part of its profits to cultural, educational and social matters as well as charities.