Lotería

Template:Short description Template:Template other Lotería (Spanish word meaning "lottery") is a traditional Mexican board game of chance, similar to bingo, but played with a deck of cards instead of numbered balls. Each card has an image of an everyday object, its name, and a number, although the number is usually ignored. Each player has at least one , a board with a randomly created 4 × 4 grid selected from the card images. Players choose a tabla ("board") to play with, from a variety of previously created , each with a different selection of images.

The traditional Lotería card deck is composed of 54 different cards, each with a different picture. To start the game, the caller (cantor, "singer") shuffles the deck. One by one, the caller picks a card from the deck and announces it to the players by its name, sometimes using a verse before reading the card name. Each player locates the matching pictogram of the card just announced on their board and marks it off with a chip or other kind of marker. In Mexico, it is traditional to use pennies, crown corks or pinto beans as markers. The winner is the first player that shouts "" after completing a pattern on their , similar to bingo: row, column, diagonal, four corners, or unique to this game, four in a square ().

History

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Lotería game based on cacao being played at the Universum museum in Mexico City

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Set up of a lotería game at the Museo de Culturas Populares in Toluca

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Animation showing traditional ways to win

The origin of can be traced far back in history. The game originated in Italy in the 15th century and was brought to New Spain (modern Mexico) in 1769. In the beginning, was a hobby of the upper classes, but eventually it became a tradition at Mexican fairs.

Don Clemente Jacques began publishing the game in 1887. His version of the game was distributed to Mexican soldiers along with their rations and supplies.

The images Don Clemente used in his card designs have become iconic in Mexican culture, as well as gaining popularity in the U.S. and some European countries. Don Clemente's cards also had a part in representing and normalizing different aspects of Mexico's national identity during the 19th century. This can be seen with the card of ("the soldier"), which was used as a symbol to reference war as a part of Mexico's national identity during that time. Many of the pictures used in Don Clemente's resemble the Major Arcana of Tarot cards used for divination (which, in turn, are based on cards used in Tarot card games). Other popular sets are , and .

Alternative versions

is a variant version of the traditional Mexican , where the basic rules apply. For this version, before the game begins, players agree on how many are to be completed in a row, column or diagonal pattern. A is a group of images in a square. The square may contain 2 x 2 (4) or 3 x 3 (9) images for a traditional .

During the 1930s, the Roman Catholic church devised its own version of , most likely because of the connections between Don Clemente's popular images and Tarot cards; divination and fortune-telling are prohibited by Catholic doctrine. This alternative deck consisted of Catholic images instead of the traditional images used in the original game, likely allowing devout Catholics a way to enjoy the game without those "sinful" connotations and giving the Church a way to teach its beliefs by way of the .

With the rise of online gaming and app-based gaming, electronic versions such as the Loteria online game allow computer users to play an online version of the .

Cards and associated verses

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Catrina in Chapala, Jalisco with dress of cards

The following is a list of the original 54 cards, traditionally and broadly recognized in Mexico. Along with each card name and number are the verses sometimes used to tell the players which card was drawn. However, there are several less traditional sets of cards, depicting different objects or animals.

No.	Name	English	Verse	Translation
1		the rooster		The one that sang for St. Peter will never sing for him again.
2		the little Devil		Behave yourself buddy, or the little red one will take you away.
3		the lady		Improving her gait, all along the main street.
4		the dandy		Sir Ferruco in the poplar grove, wanted to toss away his cane.
5		the umbrella		For the sun and for the rain.
6		the mermaid		Don't be swayed by the songs of the siren. (In Spanish, sirens and mermaids and their song are synonymous.)
7		the ladder		Ascend me step by step, don't try and skip.
8		the bottle		The tool of the drunk.
9		the barrel		So much did the bricklayer drink, he ended up like a barrel.
10		the tree		He who nears a good tree, is blanketed by good shade.
11		the melon		Give it to me or take it from me.
12		the brave man		Why do you run, coward? Having such a good blade too.
13		the little bonnet		Put the bonnet on the baby, lest he catch a cold.
14		Death		Death, thin and lanky.
15		the pear		He who waits despairs. (A pun: "waits" and "is a pear" are homophones in Mexican Spanish.)
16		the flag		Green, white, and red, the flag of the soldier.
17		the mandolin		There playing his lute, is Simon the mariachi.
18		the cello		Growing it reached the heavens, and since it wasn't a violin, it had to be a cello.
19		the heron		At the other side of the river I have my sand bank, where sits my darling short one, with the beak of a great blue heron.
20		the bird		You have me hopping here and there, like a bird on a branch.
21		the hand		The hand of a criminal.
22		the boot		A boot the same as the other.
23		the moon		The street lamp of lovers.
24		the parrot		Parrot, parrot, stick out your claw and begin to chat with me.
25		the drunkard		Oh what an annoying drunk, I can't stand him any more.
26		the little black man		The one who ate the sugar.
27		the heart		Do not miss me, sweetheart, I'll be back by bus.
28		the watermelon		The swollen belly that Juan had, was from eating too much watermelon.
29		the drum		Don't you wrinkle, dear old leather, since I want you for a drum.
30		the shrimp		The shrimp that slumbers is taken by the tides.
31		the arrows		The arrows of Adam the Indian, strike where they hit.
32		the musician		The rubber-lipped musician does not want to play for me anymore.
33		the spider		Beat it silly with a stick, do not let it near me.
34		the soldier		One, two and three, the soldier heads to the fort.
35		the star		Sailor's guide.
36		the saucepan		The attention I pay you is little. (A pun: "attention" and "saucepan" are homophones in Mexican Spanish)
37		the world		This world is a ball, and we a great mob. (A pun: bola can mean both "ball, sphere" and "crowd, mob", bolón is a superlative with the latter meaning)
38		the Apache		Ah, Chihuahua! So many Apaches with pants and sandals.
39		the prickly pear cactus		People go to see the prickly pear, only when it bears fruit.
40		the scorpion		He who stings with his tail, will get a beating.
41		the rose		Rosita, Rosaura, come, as I want you here now.
42		the skull		As I passed by the cemetery, I came across a skull.
43		the bell		You with the bell and I with your sister.
44		the little water pitcher		So often does the jug go to the water, that it breaks and wets your slip.
45		the deer		Jumping it goes searching, but it doesn't see anything. (A pun: "deer" sounds like "see nothing")
46		the sun		The blanket of the poor.
47		the crown		The hat of kings.
48		the canoe		Lupita rows as she may, sitting in her little boat.
49		the pine tree		Fresh and fragrant, beautiful in any season.
50		the fish		The one who dies by its mouth, even if he were mute. (In reference to a fish being hooked by its mouth, even though it doesn't utter a sound.)
51		the palm tree		Palmer, climb the palm tree and bring me a coconut fit for kings. (Lit: "A royal coconut.
52		the flowerpot		He who is born to be a flowerpot, does not go beyond the hallway.
53		the harp		Old harp of my mother-in-law, you are no longer fit to play.
54		the frog		What a jump your sister gave, as she saw the green frog.

In popular culture

In 2017, artist Mike Alfaro created Millennial Lotería, reimagining the game for a millennial audience with new cards such as "La hashtag", "La feminist" and "La selfie".

On December 9, 2019, Google celebrated with a Google Doodle. The doodle was a game of that could be played with online players. Some new cards are added: ("the search engine"), ("the axolotl"), ("the emoji"), etc.

In July 2021, Netflix announced a film adaptation based around the game with James Bobin set to direct and Eugenio Derbez in a leading role.

On October 2, 2023, a game show based on lotería premiered on CBS, titled Lotería Loca and hosted by Jaime Camil. On each episode, two contestants compete for a chance to win up to $1 million.

See also

• Bài Chòi – a Bingo game from Vietnam that also use cards and a singer

Further reading

• Lotería: A Novel, by Mario Alberto Zambrano
• Playing Lotería: El Juego de La Lotería, by René Colato Laínez
• El Arte de la Suerte, by Artes de Mexico Número 13, Otoño 1991, Nueva Época
• Loteria Rules and how to play

External links

• Template:Sister-inline
• Pictures of different lotería decks
• Lotería de pozo : Another way to play lotería
• Rules and pictures Template:In lang