History of gambling in Brazil

1) Pre-industrial roots and colonial era

Indigenous practices. Before the arrival of the Portuguese, the native peoples had competitive games and ritual competitions without a cash bet in the modern sense.

Colony and Empire (16th-19th centuries). Lords and municipalities periodically allowed lotteries to finance hospitals, church buildings, and schools. These practical jokes formed the habit of "official chance" and became the cultural prototype of modern state lotteries.

2) XIX century: hippodromes and the "civilized" rate

Racecourses and "turf." In the second half of the 19th century, jockey clubs and sweepstakes arose around Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Porto Alegre and Curitiba. Betting on thoroughbreds was considered "gentlemanly," overgrown with press columns, systems and social rituals.

Lottery culture. Municipal and private lotteries multiplied, funding city projects and philanthropy.

3) 1890s: birth of "jogo do bicho"

Origin. In 1892, in Rio, entrepreneur and philanthropist Juan Batista Via Flores, Baron Drummon (Barão de Drummond), having opened a zoo, came up with a simple folk fun: the visitor bought a ticket, and at the end of the day they revealed the "animal of the day." The winnings were paid according to the symbolism of the animal - this is how jogo do bicho ("the game of the beast") was born.

Evolution. Soon, the "bishu" went beyond the zoo and became an informal street lottery with its own grid of numbers and "animals." Despite the bans and police raids, the game took root due to its simplicity, microstates and rootedness in quarterly life.

4) 1930s - early 1940s: the "golden age" of casinos

Vargas era. With urban modernization, the government of Getúlio Vargas tolerated casinos as a showcase for secular Brazil.

Icons of the era. Cassino da Urca and Copacabana Palace in Rio, the luxurious halls of Belo Horizonte and São Paulo, concert venues with the participation of samba stars and radio shows. Casinos combined roulette, baccarat, "bank," live music and revues; they shaped the night economy: restaurants, ateliers, taxis, the press.

5) 1946: Total casino ban

The decree of President Euricu Gaspar Dutra in 1946 closed the casino for moral and political reasons (in the post-war conservative context and under the influence of Catholic doctrine).

Consequences. The night luxury industry disappeared literally in days, artists and croupiers left for the theater/radio/tourism, and the "game demand" partially flowed into the illegal field and into the "bishu." Racetracks and official lotteries remained allowed.

6) State lotteries and the media age (1960s-1980s)

Emergence of the federal operator. Lottery products consolidated around Caixa Econômica Federal: federal lottery, instant formats, later - the famous Mega-Sena (introduced in the late 1990s).

TV culture of pranks. Live broadcasts have become part of everyday media life, and lotteries have become a stable source of funding for sports and the social sphere.

7) 1990s - early 2000s: "bingomania" and "casa ninis"

Legalization/grey bingo zones. Reforms in sports and culture allowed bingo halls as a funding mechanism for associations and clubs. In large cities (São Paulo, Rio, Recife, Salvador), hundreds of halls appeared with electronic cards, prizes and concerts.

Scandals and bans. Amid corruption investigations and links with "one-armed bandits" ("caça-níqueis"), federal authorities phased out the bingosector in the 2000s.

In parallel: the police regularly fought clandestine kasa-ninis and bishu networks, which were transformed technologically (terminals, receipts), but remained outlawed.

8) XXI century: digital twist, sports betting and regional lotteries

Online market without local support. Since the 2010s, Brazilians have been massively getting acquainted with international online platforms (betting on football, tennis, e-sports), where licenses of foreign regulators are valid. This sparks discussions about consumer protection, KYC/AML, and taxes.

Sport as an engine. National and club broadcasts, social media and influencers fuel interest in football betting; in practice, offshore sites often bypass local barriers.

State and state lotteries. In addition to federal sweepstakes (Caixa), state/regional lotteries intensified in the 2020s after court decisions that allowed states to develop their own products - from instant to event betting (depending on jurisdiction regulations).

Normative "puzzle." Since the late 2010s, a number of laws on fixed coefficients for sports (apostas de quota fixa) and subsequent by-laws have been adopted. Detailed architecture (taxation, advertising, player protection, localization of operators, KYC/AML, ombudsman) is gradually built and regularly adjusted by the authorities.

9) Cultural dimension: samba, television and "folk" practices

Samba and the casino radio show of the 1930s set the aesthetic canon of "night Rio," influenced the cinema and television theater.

Jogo do bicho has become a social phenomenon, with its grid of "animals" and jargon infiltrating folklore, music and spoken language despite years of illegality.

Teleloterei and sports sweepstakes have created the habit of "betting on hope" - from family "rooting for circulation" to office pools.

10) Economics and law: what intensified over time

Legal backbone: State/state lotteries and racetracks.

Informal stability: "bishu" and electronic machines outside the legal field are a permanent zone of police operations.

Digital Challenges: Cross Borders, Consumer Protection, Advertising, KYC/AML, Taxes, and Platform/Intermediary Liability.

Pivot to sport regulation. From the late 2010s onwards, an attempt to "return" offshore demand to a transparent contour through licenses for fixed sports odds, requirements for local representation, advertising standards and Responsible Gaming mechanisms (limits, self-exclusion, age checks).

11) Cheat sheet timeline

XIX century. - hippodromes, municipal lotteries.

1892 - birth of jogo do bicho (Rio).

1930s - 1946 - the "golden age" of casinos (Cassino da Urca, Copacabana Palace, etc.).

1946 - nationwide casino ban (Dutra decree).

1960s - 1980s - consolidation of state lottery, media circulation.

1990s - bingo surge; 2000s - scandals and folding.

2010s - mass access to international online; legislative framework for sports betting (fixed-odds).

2020s - development of regular lotteries and consistent detailing of betting/online rules (advertising, taxes, KYC/AML, RG).

12) Brazil in a global context

The scale of the audience (football as a national religion) makes the country one of the largest potential betting markets.

The lessons of neighbors (Europe, LatAm) are pushing for a "regulate means protect" model: licenses, ombudsman, transparent advertising, protection of youth and data, RNG tech audits, anti-fraud.

The key fork: to find a balance between fiscal goals and public interest, without repeating the mistakes of the "wild" period of bingo and the underground.

13) What's next (high-level without "prophecies")

Legal products: strengthening state/state lotteries, increasing transparency in sports betting.

Consumer protection: RG tools, age filters, ad restrictions, clear dispute and return procedures.

Technologies: KYC/AML platforms, anti-fraud, behavior analytics, privacy-by-design.

Culture: Preserving the historical legacy of the casino era in tourism and media while curbing illegal practices.

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The history of gambling in Brazil is a pendulum between the official lottery and hippodromes, the folk "bishu," the dazzling "golden age" of casinos and the subsequent strict ban, between the bingo boom and the digital offshoring of the 21st century. Today, the trajectory is shifting to a regulated and consumer-protected market - with a focus on sports, transparent payments, KYC/AML and Responsible Gaming. The historical memory of luxury halls and street offices remains a cultural code, but the future of Brazilian excitement is increasingly linked to transparency, technology and social responsibility.