'La bolita', the clandestine lottery that is gaining followers in a Cuba in crisis and that has survived 66 years of prohibition.

For two decades, Carlos has been walking daily through a neighborhood in Old Havana collecting bets for "la bolita" (https://www.labolitacubana.com/), the clandestine lottery that is multiplying its followers amidst the economic crisis in Cuba.

"People are betting more than ever," Carlos, a pseudonym, tells AFP.

All Cubans interviewed for this report agreed to speak anonymously about this lottery that has survived 66 years of prohibition on the communist island.

Carlos is a "bookmaker," the only visible phase of a hermetic structure based on trust. Within this system, which handles daily bets worth millions of pesos, there are also "collectors" and "bankers," the report notes. report from Globo Online.

For this man in his forties, the increase in the number of players over the last few years reflects the "despair" of Cubans in the face of the economic crisis the country is facing, the worst in more than 30 years, with shortages of food and medicine, rampant inflation, and daily blackouts.

"When someone knows their salary isn't enough to make it to the end of the month, all that's left is to rely on luck," he adds.

However, he admits that there are “many Cubans who are ill (gambling addicts)” or “debt-deep in debt” because of “la bolita” (gambling).

In Cuba, the average salary is around 5 pesos (R$ 246).

Because there is no legal lottery, "la bolita" is guided by the results of the Florida, Georgia, and New York lotteries. Cubans follow it through a website, an app, or in Facebook, WhatsApp, and X groups.

The arrival of mobile internet on the island in 2018 gave new life to this lottery, which emerged in the 19th century as an adaptation of gambling introduced to the country by Chinese and Italian immigrants.

"People don't even say good morning anymore, they just ask you what number came up," warns Rubén, a 32-year-old player who says he's "going through a difficult phase."

However, Rogelio (47 years old) claims that in the last two weeks he earned 270 pesos (R$ 13.200), an amount equivalent to 61 times his salary as a public employee.

"A good Kabbalah can change your life," says Rogelio.

In his latest stroke of luck, he won 80 pesos (R$ 3.915).

“La bolita” is played with number combinations from 1 to 100, following the Cuban charade, a system of numerical interpretation of dreams, words, and situations.

During Fidel Castro's rule, if the leader unexpectedly appeared somewhere, fans would immediately bet on the number 1. According to the riddle, he represents the horse, as they used to call it.