Venezuelan Economic Crisis Leads to Boom in Gambling

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Monday, December 25th, 2017 | Written by Shane Larson

The Venezuelan economic crisis which started in 2012 has left the country’s residents desperately short of cash and struggling to find food and other basic items of necessity. As is often the case, the largest numbers of gamblers can be found in areas of poverty and Venezuela is no exception.

One such gambling craze sweeping the South American country is called Los Animalitos, which is a simple draw game whose results are unveiled each hour throughout the day, and offers people the chance to win a payout of up to 30 times their original bet. In such economically deprived times, people are willing to risk what little they do have for a chance to win enough money to feed their families and give them some much needed relief from the poverty.

Gambling Climate of Venezuela

Gambling has been a popular pastime in Venezuela so it’s only natural that people would flock to a game that promises to pull them out of poverty during a recession. Given the prevalence of Los Animalitos parlors around the country, and how easy it is to play the game it might be surprising to learn that Venezuela has a well regulated and controlled gambling industry in which casino licenses have been awarded to just five land-based casinos. Licenses are also issued for online casinos, bingo, lottery, and sports gambling, while Venezuela’s horse racing industry, too, remains popular with four major race tracks and plenty of off-track betting facilities located in the country.

Furthermore, Venezuela has become somewhat of a test case for the future of gambling with bitcoin as the Venezuelan bolivar has been decimated by hyperinflation in recent years. Against this backdrop, the relative stability of the digital currency allows citizens to gamble online with flexibility, despite the government’s efforts to block it.

Popularity of Gambling

The reality is that gambling is popular across all of South America, even though the gambling laws in countries such as Brazil, Ecuador, and Suriname are not as liberal compared to other countries on the continent. Nevertheless, there are a number of theories as to what has caused its surge.

One idea is that sports betting is only natural on a continent that places so much emphasis on sport, particularly football, while the gambling industry itself is well regulated, giving occasional gamblers an easy way to make a bet or two when they want. This has become even more apparent thanks to the advent of online casinos and smartphones.

Another thing to consider is that over the past century most South American countries have experienced some kind of political or economical strife, and as we are aware, research has shown that gambling is generally recession proof and that lottery participation actually increases as unemployment rises.

Regardless of how wise it is to gamble at such times, gambling providers offer eternal hope and a potential windfall that would allow a person and his family to survive tough times.

What Does the Future Hold?

The future of Venezuela seems pessimistic for now. The government and its state owned oil company defaulted recently and bankruptcy now seems to be something of an inevitability. As Venezuelans continue to wait for a life free from corruption, inflation, unemployment, and murder they do so while lining up to play Los Animaltos, and hoping to choose a lucky cartoon animal that will help them scrape together a living. After all, when someone has nothing else left to lose, can it really then be called gambling?

As the game continues to provide a means for people to extricate themselves briefly from their troubles, it also has started to consume more of people’s time and thoughts., even though it is a game of pure chance. As a result, players spend time studying past results and recent draws looking for some clue that might help them determine which animal to drawn next. Commenting upon the phenomena, Carlos Hernandez of the Caracas Chronicles explains:

“A whole lore has developed around the numbers. Apparently, the scorpion stings twice: it’s liable to come out twice in a row. People swear to God that some days only animals from Africa appear, or water animals, or the zodiac.”