Cubans turn to 'La Bolita' lottery as economic crisis deepens

Underground betting booms in Cuba as citizens gamble for survival.

A woman checks the winning numbers of the "La bolita" lottery on a mobile app in Havana, Cuba, on April 14, 2025. Photo by Adalberto Roque/AFP

By Anna Fadiah and Hayu Andini

In the heart of Havana, where heatwaves blur the edges of crumbling colonial buildings and grocery store shelves remain half-empty, a quiet rhythm persists each morning. As he’s done for the past 20 years, Carlos walks the streets collecting bets for La Bolita — Cuba’s clandestine lottery. Amid an intensifying economic crisis, this illegal form of gambling has become more than tradition; for many, it’s a desperate shot at survival.

The La Bolita lottery is an underground betting system that has endured for decades, despite a 66-year ban. With Cuba suffering its worst economic downturn in over thirty years, more and more citizens are clinging to this last sliver of hope.

Gambling in the shadows of crisis

Carlos, now in his 40s, operates as a pointer, the person who physically collects the bets. He is part of a three-tiered structure that includes collectors and bankers, handling wagers worth millions of pesos — or tens of thousands of U.S. dollars — across the country. There’s no oversight, no written contracts, and no official ledger. The entire system runs on trust.

“People are betting more than ever,” Carlos told AFP, requesting anonymity for fear of legal consequences. “When your salary can’t last the month, what else can you do?”

In Cuba, the average monthly salary is just $42, barely enough for essentials. With food prices soaring, electricity unreliable, and basic medicines scarce, betting through La Bolita seems, to many, more logical than hope for state reform.

A digital boost for an old tradition

Though banned in 1959 by Fidel Castro, the La Bolita lottery has never vanished. Originating in the 19th century from gambling games brought by Chinese and Italian immigrants, it became embedded in Cuban culture. The arrival of mobile internet in 2018 revived the game, opening new channels for its operation.

Winners are determined based on the results of official lotteries held in Florida, Georgia, or New York. Every day, players scour Facebook groups, WhatsApp threads, X (formerly Twitter) chats, and mobile apps to see if luck was on their side.

The system uses numbers from 1 to 100, each representing a symbol. For instance, 1 is a horse, 2 is a butterfly. Numbers are chosen based on dreams, symbols, or even historical anecdotes. In Castro’s time, spotting the revolutionary leader — often called “The Horse” — was taken as a divine sign to bet on the number 1.

Betting everything for a better life

Rogelio, 47, a civil servant from Havana, recently won the equivalent of $2,250 over just two weeks — a staggering 61 times his monthly salary.

“Good luck can change your life,” he said.

Ruben, a 32-year-old technician, hasn’t been as fortunate. “People no longer say good morning,” he remarked. “They ask you which numbers came out.”

The betting craze has so consumed the public consciousness that it’s become the first thing on many people’s lips each morning. It's more than entertainment — it's survival.

But it comes with risks. Carlos admits the addictive nature of La Bolita is real. “Some people go into deep debt. I see it all the time,” he said. “It’s hard to stop once you start.”

Carlos earns a 10 percent cut from the day’s total bets, enough to support himself but not enough to leave the shadows. “We live in fear,” he said. “We’re not criminals. We’re just trying to eat.”

The law’s long shadow

The Cuban Penal Code strictly prohibits gambling. Anyone found acting as a “banker, collector, or promoter of illicit games” could face up to three years in prison and a fine of 300,000 pesos — roughly $2,500.

Yet enforcement is sporadic. With so many people participating and profiting, authorities often turn a blind eye unless something goes seriously wrong.

The contrast between the past and present is striking. In the 1940s and 1950s, before Castro’s revolution, Havana was the Caribbean’s Las Vegas — a playground for wealthy Americans and organized crime. Casinos, racetracks, and luxury resorts drew thousands of tourists. Infamous gangsters like Meyer Lansky and Lucky Luciano operated openly, protected by corrupt officials loyal to President Fulgencio Batista.

Those days ended when Castro seized power in 1959. Overnight, gambling was banned, casinos were shut down, and mobsters fled the island. American journalist T.J. English chronicled the shift in his book Havana Nocturne, describing how Cuba’s dream of becoming a gaming empire evaporated.

Las Vegas would eventually take the crown instead, growing into the largest legal gambling center in the world.

Betting on survival

Today’s Cuba is a different world. There are no luxury casinos or high-stakes poker rooms. But the spirit of gambling has never left.

In back alleys, living rooms, and public parks, Cubans whisper about numbers, share dream interpretations, and await the next draw from Florida. With mobile internet and encrypted chat groups, the game has gone digital, but the stakes remain the same: a way out of poverty, if only temporarily.

Carlos believes La Bolita is here to stay. “As long as people are hungry,” he said, “they’ll keep betting.”

The underground lottery may not be legal, but it’s woven into the fabric of everyday life for millions of Cubans. As the island continues to suffer under economic collapse, La Bolita offers something the government and the official economy cannot — the faint hope that tomorrow might be different.

In a country where cash is scarce and opportunity rarer still, sometimes all that’s left is luck.