Brazil’s Mobbed Up ‘Animal Lottery’ Battered by Online Gaming

Posted on: January 13, 2025, 05:52h. 

Last updated on: January 13, 2025, 05:52h.

Brazil’s new online gambling market appears to have achieved what a century of public prosecutors have failed to do – smash the country’s Mafia-controlled numbers rackets.

Brazilians are increasingly rejecting the formerly popular but illegal “jogo do bicho” – or “animal game” – for the convenience and bigger jackpot potential of mobile slots and digital sports betting.

Online gambling has exploded in popularity in Brazil since the legalization of sports betting in 2018. And from January 1 this year, the government began licensing and regulating online casino gaming.

The newly regulated market has the potential to quickly become one of the biggest in the world, and this has sparked anxiety in Brazil about negative social impact.

But one unexpected social upside appears to be the near elimination of an important Mafia revenue stream.

Different Animal

Jogo do Bicho has been deeply embedded in Brazilian culture for a long time. Tickets are still sold on almost every street corner, while those who control the game, known as bicheiros, are knee-deep in bribery, money laundering, and murder.

The game invites players to bet on combinations of numbers that are linked to any one of 25 different animals. Players sometimes choose their bets based on an animal that recently appeared to them in a dream.

The game was created in the late 19th century by “Baron” João Batista Viana Drummond, an Englishman who was awarded the concession to operate the Rio di Janeiro Zoo.

But the lottery quickly became more popular than the zoo itself and spawned copycat games around the city. These games were a big hit because bicheiros would accept bets of any amount at a time when most Brazilians were very poor.

Turf Wars

Jogo do Bicho was first criminalized in 1895, but its popularity persisted. By the 1970s, gambling bosses were engaged in bloody turf wars while bribing politicians, judges, and law enforcement to protect their interests.

At the same time, they were buying the affection of the local populace by paying for Carnival parades and handing out presents at Christmas, according to The New York Times.

And those operators have done their homework. Their lobbies even offer online versions of Jogo do Bicho, along with a myriad of other games that are proving more engaging to Brazilians.