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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Tiago Rogero in Rio de Janeiro

Jogo do Bicho: Brazil’s popular illegal animal lottery is losing its bite

Jogo do Bicho stickers with drawings of different animals standing on a pair of dice with their name and a number above each one
Jogo do Bicho stickers from early 20th-century Rio de Janeiro. Photograph: National Library of Brazil

At the intersection of two of the busiest streets in the Copacabana neighbourhood, just a five-minute walk from Rio de Janeiro’s most famous beach, it is possible to play a gambling game created 134 years ago – and banned for almost as long.

There is a police station just one block away, but it is no inconvenience for the bookie.

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