Lotería: fifty-four pictures, one caller and a publisher’s date nobody agrees on

By Rafe Calder

Lotería is sold as Mexican bingo. That is a fair shorthand and a poor description. There are no numbers called, no drum, and the person calling often makes up a rhyme. Here is how the game works.

How a game runs

Wikipedia describes Lotería as a traditional Mexican board game of chance played with a deck of cards instead of numbered balls. Each card carries an image of an object, its name and a number, though the number is usually ignored. Each player has at least one tabla, a board with a 4 by 4 grid of images chosen from the cards. Wikipedia says the traditional deck has 54 different cards.

The caller, the cantor (“singer”), shuffles the deck and draws one card at a time. He or she announces it by name, sometimes with a verse first. Players find the matching picture on their tabla and mark it with a chip or other marker. The first to shout “¡Lotería!” after filling the tabla or a set pattern wins.

Time magazine says markers are traditionally a dry pinto bean or a stone and says a tabla holds 16 images.

Where they differ on winning

Wikipedia lists several winning patterns: a row, a column, a diagonal, the four corners, or, unique to this game, four in a square, called a pozo. Time, summarizing the basics, says the first player to get four in a row wins. Players may agree on a pattern before the game starts.

The caller’s craft

Wikipedia says the caller sometimes uses a verse. Time says the announcer names each image, sometimes with a riddle or story. Vanguardia, a Mexican newspaper, describes the game as played with 54 verses sung by the caller.

Dates in order

15th century: the game originates in Italy, according to Wikipedia and Time.

What kind of sources these are

Wikipedia; Time, a news magazine; Vanguardia, a Mexican newspaper.

What we left out

We left out the full list of card names and verses, the publisher history, brand and trademark questions, redesigned decks, and prices. We name no brand and no living artist.

Quick answers

How many cards are in a Lotería deck? Fifty-four, according to Wikipedia, Time and Vanguardia.
Is Lotería the same as bingo? It is similar. According to Wikipedia, players mark pictures on a tabla from a drawn deck of cards rather than numbers from balls.

Roam first. Shop later.

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