''Lotería'' (Spanish word meaning "lottery") is a traditional game of chance, similar to bingo, but using images on a deck of cards instead of numbered ping pong balls. Every image has a name and an assigned number, but the number is usually ignored. Each

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who is ...

has at least one ', a board with a randomly created 4 x 4 grid of

pictures An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimensiona ...

with their corresponding name and number. Players choose a ''tabla'' (Spanish word for "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 a set of 54 different cards, each with a different picture. To start the game, the caller (''cantor'', Spanish for "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 A pictogram, also called a pictogramme, pictograph, or simply picto, and in computer usage an icon, is a graphic symbol that conveys its meaning through its pictorial resemblance to a physical object. Pictographs are often used in writing and ...

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 small rocks, crown corks or pinto beans as markers. The winner is the first player that shouts ''""'' or ''""'' right after completing a or a previous agreed pattern: row, column, diagonal, or a '.

History

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 New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...

(modern Mexico) in 1769. In the beginning, was a hobby of the upper classes, but eventually it became a tradition at Mexican

fair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Types Variations of fairs incl ...

s. Don Clemente Jacques began publishing the game in 1887.Villegas, Teresa
"History of La Lotería"
, ''www.teresavillegas.com'' 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 The list below includes all entities falling even partially under any of the various common definitions of Europe, geographical or political. Fifty generally recognised sovereign states, Kosovo with limited, but substantial, international reco ...

. 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 (Spanish for "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 The Major Arcana are the named or numbered cards in a cartomantic tarot pack, the name being originally given by occultists to the trump cards of a normal tarot pack used for playing card games. There are usually 22 such cards in a standard 78-car ...

of Tarot cards used for divination (which, in turn, are based on cards used in

Tarot card games Tarot games are card games played with tarot decks, that is, decks with numbered permanent trumps parallel to the suit cards. The games and decks which English-speakers call by the French name Tarot are called Tarocchi in the original Italian, ...

). 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 Divination (from Latin ''divinare'', 'to foresee, to foretell, to predict, to prophesy') is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic, standardized process or ritual. Used in various forms throughout histor ...

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

The following is a list of the original 54 ' cards, traditionally and broadly recognized in Mexico. Below each card name and number, are the verses (in Spanish) sometimes used to tell the players which card was drawn. However, there are several less traditional sets of cards, depicting different objects or animals. 1 ("the rooster") : :The one that sang for St. Peter will never sing for him again. 2 ("the little

Devil A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of t ...

") : :Behave yourself buddy, or the little red one will take you away. 3 ("the

lady The word ''lady'' is a term for a girl or woman, with various connotations. Once used to describe only women of a high social class or status, the equivalent of lord, now it may refer to any adult woman, as gentleman can be used for men. Inform ...

") : :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 In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are sometimes asso ...

") : :Don't be swayed by the songs of the siren. (In Spanish, sirens and mermaids and their song is synonymous.) 7 ("the

ladder A ladder is a vertical or inclined set of rungs or steps used for climbing or descending. There are two types: rigid ladders that are self-supporting or that may be leaned against a vertical surface such as a wall, and rollable ladders, such a ...

") : :Ascend me step by step, don't try and skip. 8 ("the

bottle A bottle is a narrow-necked container made of an impermeable material (such as glass, plastic or aluminium) in various shapes and sizes that stores and transports liquids. Its mouth, at the bottling line, can be sealed with an internal stopp ...

") : :The tool of the drunk. 9 ("the

barrel A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, ...

") : :So much did the bricklayer drink, he ended up like a barrel. 10 ("the

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

") : :He who nears a good tree, is blanketed by good shade. 11 ("the

melon A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. The word "melon" can refer to either the plant or specifically to the fruit. Botanically, a melon is a kind of berry, specifically a "pepo". The ...

") : :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 is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

") : :Death, thin and lanky. 15 ("the

pear Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in the Northern Hemisphere in late summer into October. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the family Rosaceae, bearing the p ...

") : : He who waits despairs. (A pun: "to wait" and "to be a pear" are homophones in Mexican Spanish.) 16 ("the

flag A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design empl ...

") : :Green, white, and red, the flag of the soldier. 17 ("the

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

") : :There playing his lute, is Simon the mariachi. 18 ("the

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

") : :Growing it reached the heavens, and since it wasn't a violin, it had to be a cello. 19 ("the

heron The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychus ...

") : :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 Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

") : :You have me hopping here and there, like a bird on a branch. 21 ("the

hand A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the koala (which has two opposable thumbs on each "h ...

") : :The hand of a criminal. 22 ("the

boot A boot is a type of footwear. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle, while some also cover some part of the lower calf. Some boots extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is cle ...

") : :A boot the same as the other. 23 ("the

moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

") : :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 Black Man may refer to: * Black people * ''Black Man'' (novel), a 2007 novel by Richard Morgan *Black Man (song), a 1976 song by Stevie Wonder *Black Man (wrestler), a Mexican wrestler *Bogeyman The Bogeyman (; also spelled boogeyman, bogyman, ...

") : :The one who ate the sugar. 27 ("the

heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide t ...

") : :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 The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

") : :Don't you wrinkle, dear old leather, since I want you for a drum. 30 ("the

shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...

") : :The shrimp that slumbers is taken by the tides. 31 ("the

arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...

s") : :The arrows of Adam the Indian, strike where they hit. 32 ("the

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

") : :The rubber-lipped musician does not want to play for me anymore. 33 ("the

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

") : :Beat it silly with a stick, do not let it near me. 34 ("the

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

") : :One, two and three, the soldier heads to the fort. 35 ("the

star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

") : :Sailor's guide. 36 ("the

saucepan Cookware and bakeware is food preparation equipment, such as cooking pots, pans, baking sheets etc. used in kitchens. Cookware is used on a stove or range cooktop, while bakeware is used in an oven. Some utensils are considered both cookware ...

") : :The attention I pay you is little. (A pun: "attention" and "saucepan" are homophones in Mexican Spanish) 37 ("the

world In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

") : :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 Comparison is a feature in the morphology or syntax of some languages whereby adjectives and adverbs are inflected to indicate the relative degree of the property they define exhibited by the word or phrase they modify or describe. In languages t ...

with the latter meaning) 38 ("the

Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...

") : :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 Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always end ...

") : :He who stings with his tail, will get a beating. 41 ("the

rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

") : :Rosita, Rosaura, come, as I want you here now. 42 ("the

skull The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, the ...

") : :As I passed by the cemetery, I found myself 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 Slip or SLIP may refer to: Science and technology Biology * Slip (fish), also known as Black Sole * Slip (horticulture), a small cutting of a plant as a specimen or for grafting * Muscle slip, a branching of a muscle, in anatomy Computing and ...

. 45 ("the

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...

") : :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 A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the term ...

") : :Lupita rows as she may, sitting in her little boat. 49 ("the

pine tree A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts ...

") : :Fresh and fragrant, beautiful in any season. 50 ("the

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

") : :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 The Arecaceae is a family of perennial flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are called palm trees ...

") : :Palmer, climb the palm tree and bring me a coconut fit for kings. (Lit: "A royal coconut.") 52 ("the

flowerpot A flowerpot, planter, planterette or plant pot, is a container in which flowers and other plants are cultivated and displayed. Historically, and still to a significant extent today, they are made from plain terracotta with no ceramic glaze, wi ...

") : :He who is born to be a flowerpot, does not go beyond the hallway. 53 ("the

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

") : :Old harp of my mother-in-law, you are no longer fit to play. 54 ("the

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

") : :What a jump your sister gave, as she saw the green frog.

Google tribute

On December 9, 2019,

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

celebrated ' with a Google Doodle. The interactive game has the ', ', ', ', ', ', ', and ' cards replaced with ' ("the

axolotl The axolotl (; from nci, āxōlōtl ), ''Ambystoma mexicanum'', is a paedomorphic salamander closely related to the tiger salamander. Axolotls are unusual among amphibians in that they reach adulthood without undergoing metamorphosis. Instea ...

"), ' ("the

search engine A search engine is a software system designed to carry out web searches. They search the World Wide Web in a systematic way for particular information specified in a textual web search query. The search results are generally presented in a ...

"), ' ("the

conch Conch () is a common name of a number of different medium-to-large-sized sea snails. Conch shells typically have a high spire and a noticeable siphonal canal (in other words, the shell comes to a noticeable point at both ends). In North Am ...

"), ' ("the fresh ear of corn"), ' ("the

emoji An emoji ( ; plural emoji or emojis) is a pictogram, logogram, ideogram or smiley embedded in text and used in electronic messages and web pages. The primary function of emoji is to fill in emotional cues otherwise missing from typed conversat ...

"), ' ("the cap"), ' ("the guacamole"), and ' ("the

hairless dog A hairless dog is a dog with a genetic disposition for hairlessness and hair loss. There are two known types of genetic hairlessness, a dominant and a recessive type. The dominant type is caused by ectodermal dysplasia as a result of a mutation ...

"). Artworks for ' and ' cards not found during the game can still be seen in the background of the end screen.

Film adaptation

In July 2021,

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

announced a film adaptation based around the game with

James Bobin James Bobin is a British filmmaker. He worked as a director and writer on ''Da Ali G Show'' and helped create the characters of Ali G, Borat, and Brüno. With Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement, he co-created ''Flight of the Conchords''. He direc ...

set to direct and Eugenio Derbez in a leading role.

References

External links

* * Software to print ''Lotería''
Loteria Workshop

Pictures of different lotería decks
* ''Lotería'' de pozo

Loterias Nacional
{{DEFAULTSORT:Loteria (Board Game) Bingo Dedicated deck card games Mexican-American culture Mexican culture Mexican card games