How does the animal game work?

– (Gustavo Grazziano/Superinteressante)

Basically, the animal game works by drawing five pairs of tens between 00 and 99, associated with 25 different animals. If you chose these dozens, you take the prize.

The game was created in 1892 by Baron João Batista Viana Drummond, founder of the zoo in Rio de Janeiro. At first, the zoo was not very popular, so the game came up to encourage visits and prevent the establishment from closing its doors.

It worked like this: when purchasing a ticket, visitors received a coupon with the print of one of 25 animals. One of the animals was drawn at the end of the day, and whoever had the winning coupon received up to 20 times the amount paid for the ticket.

The “incentive” promoted by the zoo worked, but not in the way the baron imagined. In 1894, it was already possible to buy several tickets – motivating the emergence of the bicheiro, which sold them around the city. Thus, the draw became a game of chance. The following year, the game was banned, but by then it had already become a fever.

doing a little feat

The singer Zeca Pagodinho I had no idea, but you better know that gambling is illegal. Even so, the animal moves millions of reais daily throughout Brazil.

Botecos, rubber stores and even newsstands serve as “front establishments” that receive bets. To play, just choose a pair of tens, or a pair of animals – each represents four tens. This pair constitutes a thousand. For example: the tens 15 and 23 form the thousand 1523. Because it is composed of four digits, many people bet on the digits of the license plate of the car.

Each animal represents a group of four dozen. The ostrich represents group 01, which contains tens 01, 02, 03 and 04. The numbers grow until you reach the cow, representative of group 25 with tens 97, 98, 99 and 00.

Every day, several draws are made, each with five thousand. In Rio de Janeiro, the birthplace of the game, the draws take place in a secret venue, which uses bingo balls to draw the dozens. The disclosure takes place minutes later, on the internet, on the radio, popular newspapers and even by telephone – the so-called “disk-bicho”.

There are several betting options and the prize varies according to the probability of success in the chosen game, as in lotteries. The winner can receive between 15 and 4 thousand times the amount invested (which is usually around R$ 1). To receive it, the player must return the day after to the place where he bet, with the receipt of the game.

Make your bets

The prize depends on the probability of combinations of the tens

There are more than ten types of bets, which yield prizes according to their probability. A «dry thousand” (or in the head), for example, happens when your thousand comes out in the first draw. Pays 4 thousand times the investment. Yes, if you bet one real and hit the dry thousand, you will receive 4 thousand in your account.

Already the «ten” yields 80 times: it is enough that the last two digits of your thousand are drawn. One «duke of tens” rolls when two dozens that you define are drawn. The return is 200 to 1.

tips from the unconscious

There are those who believe that dreams can be betting suggestions. If you dreamed of a baby, it is worth betting on the goat. If you went with a pencil, go on a camel. They don’t always make sense, but there are people who guarantee that it works. See the most traditional bets below:

For those who dreamed of: Ring, wedding, table, pearl = Ostrich = Group 1. Tens 01, 02, 03, 04

• Fight, clown, grape = Eagle = Group 2. Tens 05, 06, 07, 08
• Shelter, protection, book = Dumb = Group 3. Tens 09, 10, 11, 12
• Children, garden, moon, mountain = Butterfly = Group 4. Tens 13, 14, 15, 16
• Witch, God, lightning, shadow = Puppy = Group 5. Tens 17, 18, 19, 20
• Darkness, baby, Sun = Goat = Group 6. Tens 21, 22, 23, 24
• Window, lamp, coin, egg = Ram = Group 7. Tens 25, 26, 27, 28
• Friend, ladder, man, pencil, pyramid = Camel = Group 8. Tens 29, 30, 31, 32
• Church, sea, night, bridge, breasts = Snake = Group 9. Tens 33, 34, 35, 36
• Kiss, stone = Rabbit = Group 10. Tens 37, 38, 39, 40
• Milk, nudity, shoe = Horse = Group 11. Tens 41, 42, 43, 44
• Angel, blood = Elephant = Group 12. Tens 45, 46, 47, 48
• Cafunés, deceased, knife, wall, glasses = rooster = Group 13. Tens 49, 50, 51, 52
• Fear, cloud, salt, red = Cat = Group 14. Tens 53, 54, 55, 56
• island, navel = Alligator = Group 15. Tens 57, 58, 59, 60
• Accidents, mask, foot = Lion = Group 16. Tens 61, 62, 63, 64
• Gemstones = Monkey = Group 17. Tens 65, 66, 67, 68
• Marriage, lake, mother = Pork = Group 18. Tens 69, 70, 71, 72
• House, fire, nest, bread, river = Peacock = Group 19. Tens 73, 74, 75, 76
• Money, flower, snow, eyes, medicine = Peru = Group 20. Tens 77, 78, 79, 80
• Carnival, children, clock = Bull = Group 21. Tens 81, 82, 83, 84
• Ghost, ship, ear, beach, king = Tiger = Group 22. Tens 85, 86, 87, 88
• Adultery, shipwreck, father, fall, volcano = Bear = Group 23. Tens 89, 90, 91, 92
• Army, hospital, birth, barracks = Deer = Group 24. Tens 93, 94, 95, 96
• mirror, star, wave, frame = cow = Group 25. Tens 97, 98, 99, 00

SOURCES Websites How Stuf Works and O Bicheiro. Consultancy Antonio Paulo Benatte, professor of the history department at the State University of Ponta Grossa (UEPG), author of the thesis The Games that Speculate with Chance: Contribution to a History of the ‘Game of Chance’ in Modern Brazil (1890-1950)