Brazil's traditional "animal lottery" (jogo do bicho) is facing unprecedented decline as online gambling gains popularity in the country. This illegal gambling operation, long controlled by organized crime, is losing ground to licensed digital alternatives.

The shift began with Brazil's 2018 legalization of sports betting and accelerated with the January 2024 regulation of online casino gaming. Players are abandoning street-corner betting for convenient mobile platforms offering larger jackpots.

Jogo do bicho, deeply rooted in Brazilian culture since the 1890s, involves betting on numbers associated with 25 different animals. The game originated at the Rio de Janeiro Zoo under "Baron" João Batista Viana Drummond as a promotional raffle, but quickly evolved into a widespread illegal gambling network.

Despite being outlawed in 1895, the game flourished under the control of gambling bosses called "bicheiros," who maintained power through a combination of violence, bribery, and community patronage. They funded local celebrations and distributed gifts while engaging in money laundering and territorial disputes.

Now, licensed online operators are capturing the market by offering modern versions of jogo do bicho alongside international casino games. According to Rio historian Luiz Antônio Simas, the traditional game is struggling to maintain its player base against these new alternatives.

This shift represents an unexpected benefit of Brazil's gambling regulation: the potential dismantling of a century-old criminal enterprise through market competition rather than law enforcement action.

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