This is about the game "la bolita," popular in Cuba, and it was offered illegally in a restaurant and a laundry.
United States.- The Florida police arrested two people accused of operating illegal lotteries from a restaurant and a laundry in North Miami Beach.
A 36-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman were arrested last Wednesday and face charges for promoting or conducting an illegal lottery, making unauthorized bets, and manufacturing, selling, or possessing gambling devices, according to WTVJ.
The game in question is known as "la bolita", a gambling game that arrived in Florida from Cuba. It was very popular in the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, especially among the Hispanic, African American, and Italian working-class communities of the state.
Police reports indicate that the games involved in the recent arrests used a system that allowed customers to make illegal bets on legitimate state lotteries. In the laundry, the police found "a blackboard with the results of lottery draws, piles of cash, a computer to record bets, and a receipt printer for betting transactions," according to WTVJ.
This would be a more advanced version of la bolita, which originally consisted of 100 numbered balls that were put into a bag and mixed before players bet on the numbers that would be drawn.
It is worth noting that since April 2024, there have been several operations linked to the operations of this game in the state of Florida.
