A well kept secret tradition…Loteria in the afternoon at Bar Frida

Like Bingo? Want to improve your spanish while taking part in a centuries old game?

At some point a few years back, someone started a game of Loteria at Fridas one afternoon. It was an instant hit. Now, many expats and locals look forward to a friendly game of Loteria most afternoons at bar Frida on L. Cardenas and Constitucion in Puerto Vallarta. With 10 pesos beer, you can’t really go wrong, even if you lose. You just might learn a few new spanish words too! The game is usually called by a customer since the bartenders Abner, David and Blanca are busy. I’ve been going to Bar Frida or 6 or 7 years now and I can assure you that this little cantina will make you smile.

What the heck is Loteria? (from Wikepedia)
Lotería is a Mexican 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. Each player choose what tabla they want to play with, from a variety of previously created tablas. Each one presents a different selection of images.

The lotería 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 families traditionally use small rocks, soda corks or pinto beans as markers). The first player with four chips in a horizontal, vertical or diagonal row, squared pattern, or any other previously specified pattern, shouts “¡Lotería!” (Lottery!) or “¡Buena!” (Good!) and is the winner.

Lotería is a tradition that involves art, passion, and culture. The origin of Lotería can be traced back to the 15th century in Italy, where this type of games were organized to collect funds for the poor. From there the numeric game migrated to other countries like France, where King Francis I founded the first state that sponsored a loteria. The first loterias arrived to Mexico in the 18th century from Spain. In the beginning Lotería was a hobby of the upper classes, but eventually it became a tradition at Mexican fairs. At present, Lotería has been adapted as a didactic tool, and several artists are using the Lotería pictograms as a base for their art projects.

~ by pvmingo on September 30, 2008.