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ENGLISH
PORTUGUESE LINGUISTICS & CULTURE |
Autor: | Dale-USA |
E-mail: | dale_thomas2004@yahoo.com.br |
Data: | 08/JUL/2010 11:45 PM |
Assunto: | bets, bookmaking, pools |
Mensagem: |
We cannot make bets on the lottery, but we can buy a (lottery) ticket and we can play the lottery. Gambling is very controlled in the USA. Lotteries have become common, but only certain cities have permitted casinos, betting on sporting events, etc. You can bet on a horse race if you go to the racetrack, but you must go to specific places (often they are casinos) to place a debt on horse race if you are not at the racetrack. A person who accepts an illegal bet is called a "bookmaker", and taking the bet is called "bookmaking". Do you have "office pools" in Brazil? (Although "office pool" is the common name, "pool" is understood.) On Sunday there will be a game between Spain and Holland, right? You take a large piece of paper and divide part of it into 100 squares (10 squares by 10 squares). Now you sell the squares to your friends for R$1.00. Each person writes in the square his name and phone number. After all the squares have been sold, along the top and one side of the squares you put (1) the name of each team, and (2) numbers from 0 to 9 in random order. Let's say that along the top of the squares you have written Spain 7 0 9 3 5 1 4 6 8 2 and along one side Netherlands 9 6 3 1 4 2 8 0 5 7. The information on this card or board becomes common or public knowledge. Usually the card/board is put in a place of prominence for all to see. When the game ends, the score is Spain 12, Netherlands 4. To find the winner of the pool, you go to the squares. You find Spain 2. (Since 12 has two digits, you only look at the last digit.). Now you go to Netherlands 4. You find where the two cross/meet. And the winner is.....Cathy in accounting! No skill. No knowledge of soccer or another sport is required. It is all luck. And...Cathy wins R$100. Is there a counterpart to this in Brazil? It is not known here in Costa Rica where I live. It is very common (and probably illegal) in the USA. Often this is done at parties where many friends gather to watch the game, drink too much beer, and barbecue. |