Lotería

This article is about the Mexican game. For the horse racing event, see Gran Premio Lotteria. For the fast food chain, see Lotteria.

Not to be confused with the Spanish national lottery (i.e. Lotería Nacional).

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A lotería board and traditional ways to win

Lotería is a game of chance, similar to bingo, but using images on a deck of cards instead of plain numbers on ping pong balls. Every image has a name and an assigned number, but the number is usually ignored. Each player has at least one tabla, a board with a randomly created 4 x 4 grid of pictures with their corresponding name and number. Players choose what tabla they want to play with, from a variety of previously created tablas. Each one presents a different selection of images.

Lotería is the Spanish word for lottery. The deck is composed of a set of 54 different images, each one in a card. To start the game, the caller (cantor, or singer) randomly selects a card from the deck and announces it to the players by its name, sometimes using a riddle or humorous patter instead of reading the card name. The players with a matching pictogram on their board mark it off with a chip or other kind of marker (many Mexican people traditionally use small rocks, crown corks or pinto beans as markers). The first player with four chips in a horizontal, vertical or diagonal row, squared pattern,any other previously specified pattern, or fills the tabla first shouts "¡Lotería!" (Lottery!) or "¡Buenas!" (Good!) and is the winner.

History

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Iconic pictograms used in lotería

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

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

The most famous maker of the card sets nowadays is Pasatiempos Gallo, S.A. de C.V., headquartered in the city of Santiago de Querétaro, (operating as Don Clemente, Inc. in the United States), which began publishing the game in 1887 when Don Clemente Jacques started to produce the cards. The current images have become iconic in Mexican culture, as well as gaining popularity in the US and some European countries. Other popular Loteria sets are Loteria Leo and Loteria de mi tierra.

Cards and associated riddles

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Catrina in Chapala, Jalisco with dress of lotería cards

The following is a list of all the original 54 Lotería cards, traditionally and broadly recognized in all of Mexico. Below each card name and number, are the riddles (in Spanish) sometimes used to tell the players which card was drawn. However, there are several less traditional set of cards, depicting different objects or animals.

1 El gallo ("the rooster")

El que le cantó a San Pedro no le volverá a cantar.

The one that sang for St. Peter will never sing for him again.

2 El diablito ("the Devil")

Pórtate bien cuatito, si no te lleva el coloradito.

Behave yourself buddy, or the little red one will take you away.

3 La dama ("the lady")

Puliendo el paso, por toda la calle real.

Polishing as she steps, all along the royal street

4 El catrín ("the dandy")

Don Ferruco en la alameda, su bastón quería tirar.

Sir Ferruco in the lane, wanted to toss away his cane.

5 El paraguas ("the umbrella")

Para el sol y para el agua.

For the sun and for the rain.

6 La sirena ("the mermaid")

Con los cantos de sirena, no te vayas a marear.

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

7 La escalera ("the ladder")

Súbeme paso a pasito, no quieras pegar brinquitos.

Lift me step by step, don't try and skip.

8 La botella ("the bottle")

La hermienta del borracho.

The tool of the drunk.

9 El barril ("the barrel")

Tanto bebió el albañil, que quedó como barril.

So much did the bricklayer drink, he ended up like a barrel.

10 El árbol ("the tree")

El que a buen árbol se arrima, buena sombra le cobija.

He who nears a good tree, is blanketed by good shade.

11 El melón ("the melon")

Me lo das o me lo quitas.

Give it to me or take it from me.

12 El valiente ("the brave man")

Por qué le corres cobarde, trayendo tan buen puñal.

Why do you run, coward? Having such a good blade too.

13 El gorrito ("the bonnet")

Ponle su gorrito al nene, no se nos vaya a resfriar.

Put the bonnet the baby, lest he catch a cold.

14 La muerte ("Death")

La muerte tilica y flaca.

Death, thin and lanky.

15 La pera ("the pear")

El que espera, desespera.

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

16 La bandera ("the flag")

Verde blanco y colorado, la bandera del soldado.

Green, white, and red, the flag of the soldier.

17 El bandolón ("the mandolin")

Tocando su bandolón, está el mariachi Simón.

There playing his lute, is Simon the mariachi.

18 El violoncello ("the cello")

Creciendo se fue hasta el cielo, y como no fue violín, tuvo que ser violoncello.

Growing it reached the heavens, and since it wasn't a violin, it had to be a cello.

19 La garza ("the heron")

Al otro lado del río tengo mi banco de arena, donde se sienta mi chata pico de garza morena.

At the other side of the river I have my sand bank, where sits my darling short one, with the beak of a dark heron.

20 El pájaro ("the bird")

Tu me traes a puros brincos, como pájaro en la rama.

You have me hopping here and there, like a bird on a branch.

21 La mano ("the hand")

La mano de un criminal.

The hand of a criminal.

22 La bota ("the boot")

Una bota igual que la otra.

A boot the same as the other.

23 La luna ("the moon")

El farol de los enamorados.

The street lamp of lovers.

24 El cotorro ("the parrot")

Cotorro cotorro saca la pata, y empiézame a platicar.

Parrot, parrot, stick out your claw and begin to chat with me.

25 El borracho ("the drunkard")

A qué borracho tan necio ya no lo puedo aguantar.

Oh what an annoying drunk, I can't stand him any more.

26 El negrito ("the little black one")

El que se comió el azúcar.

The one who ate the sugar.

27 El corazón ("the heart")

No me extrañes corazón, que regreso en el camión.

Do not miss me, sweetheart, I'll be back by bus.

28 La sandía ("the watermelon")

La barriga que Juan tenía, era empacho de sandía.

The swollen belly that Juan had, was from eating too much watermelon.

29 El tambor ("the drum")

No te arruges, cuero viejo, que te quiero pa' tambor.

Don't you wrinkle, dear old leather, that I want you for a drum.

30 El camarón ("the shrimp")

Camarón que se duerme, se lo lleva la corriente.

The shrimp that slumbers is taken by the tides.

31 Las jaras ("the arrows")

Las jaras del indio Adán, donde pegan, dan.

The arrows of Adam the Indian, strike where they hit.

32 El músico ("the musician")

El músico trompas de hule, ya no me quiere tocar.

The rubber-lipped musician does not want to play for me anymore.

33 La araña ("the spider")

Atarántamela a palos, no me la dejes llegar.

Beat it silly with a stick, do not let it near me.

34 El soldado ("the soldier")

Uno, dos y tres, el soldado p'al cuartel.

One, two and three, the soldier heads to the fort.

35 La estrella ("the star")

La guía de los marineros.

Sailor's guide.

36 El cazo ("the saucepan")

El caso que te hago es poco.

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

37 El mundo ("the world")

Este mundo es una bola, y nosotros un bolón.

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 El apache ("the Apache")

¡Ah, Chihuahua! Cuánto apache con pantalón y huarache.

Ah, Chihuahua! So many Apaches with pants and sandals.

39 El nopal ("the prickly pear cactus")

Al nopal lo van a ver, nomás cuando tiene tunas.

People go to see the prickly pear, only when it bears fruit .

40 El alacrán ("the scorpion")

El que con la cola pica, le dan una paliza.

He who stings with his tail, will get a beating.

41 La rosa ("the rose")

Rosita, Rosaura, ven que te quiero ahora.

Rosita, Rosaura, come, as I want you here now.

42 La calavera ("the skull")

Al pasar por el panteón, me encontré un calaverón.

As I passed by the cemetery, I found myself a skull.

43 La campana ("the bell")

Tú con la campana y yo con tu hermana.

You with the bell and I with your sister.

44 El cantarito ("the water pitcher")

Tanto va el cántaro al agua, que se quiebra y te moja las enaguas.

So often does the jug go to the water, that it breaks and wets your slip.

45 El venado ("the deer")

Saltando va buscando, pero no ve nada.

Jumping it goes searching, but it doesn't see anything.(A pun: venado "deer" sounds like ve nada "see nothing")

46 El Sol ("the sun")

La cobija de los pobres.

The blanket of the poor.

47 La corona ("the crown")

El sombrero de los reyes.

The hat of kings.

48 La chalupa ("the canoe")

Rema que rema Lupita, sentada en su chalupita.

Lupita rows as she may, sitting in her little boat.

49 El pino ("the pine tree")

Fresco y oloroso, en todo tiempo hermoso.

Fresh and fragrant, beautiful in any season.

50 El pescado ("the fish")

El que por la boca muere, aunque mudo fuere.

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 La palma ("the palm tree")

Palmero, sube a la palma y bájame un coco real.

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

52 La maceta ("the flowerpot")

El que nace pa'maceta, no sale del corredor.

He who is born to be a flowerpot, does not go beyond the hallway.

53 El arpa ("the harp")

Arpa vieja de mi suegra, ya no sirves pa'tocar.

Old harp of my mother-in-law, you are no longer fit to play.

54 La rana ("the frog")

Al ver a la verde rana, qué brinco pegó tu hermana.

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

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

External links

• How to play Loteria
• Scans of Lotería decks from multiple manufacturers
• Software to print Loteria