ticket Buy! a Fritter your Pesos Every couple of blocks you see them: little shops with that yellow and blue circular sign outside and windows covered with stickers and bits of paper. Inside old men with pencils behind their ears and yellow teeth will tell you there’s some great ways to lose money in Buenos Aires. Laura Nowydwor and Nico Zuzenberg calculate the odds.
The Races
Flutter on the horses from your local betting shop, or head down to the architectural landmark that is the Palermo Hippodrome for the full monty. The place contains lunch rooms, bars and restaurants, slot machines, and plenty of points from which to view the races, the cheapest being Tribuna Paddok, where chainsmoking gamblers listen to handheld radios and desperately clutch torn rags of newspaper. Look out for the big races, like the Gran Premio (May) or the Carlos Pellegrini (Dec). Northern Insid-
Quiniela
Quiniela is a lottery which throws up twenty numbers of four digits each. Addictive personalities beware: there are more than ten different ones a day! Bet a minimum of 50 centavos on any of the twenty numbers, and that one, two, three or four digits will appear within each number. You can make any combination of bets, as long as you keep coughing up, but people tend to bet on the four digits that come out in first position: the ‘cabeza’. Prizes range from a few hundred to three million pesos depending on which numbers you get in what position. Mythology: If you see a couple of hoary old betting shop regulars telling each other their dreams, it’s not because they’re Freud24 . BA Insider . Issue 4
ers should check out the San Isidro Hipódromo for more of the same. Rules: Bet on first, second and third place, minimum bet AR$1. Bet as late as possible when you’ll have more realistic odds, and a better idea of the pot to be won. Hipódromo de Palermo | Libertador 4101 4778-2800 | www.palermo.com.ar Hipódromo de San Isidro | Av. Márquez 504 | 4743-4010 www.hipodromosanisidro.com
ian gamblers. Over time, the Quiniela has become almost kabalistic in its associated folklore. Each of the 99 numbers in the barrel signify a different dream: if you dream of a priest, for example, you should then bet on 40 (see some more number meanings above). Other aficionados decide based on birthdays, etc, but know that certain historical events have shown the Quiniela’s power to be more than just a dream: During the great smoke-out of April 2008, when provincial farmers’ fires suffocated Buenos Aires Capital, thousands of people bet on incendio (fire). That day, number 08 came out as the cabeza. The day Benedict XVI was named Pope, the cabeza turned out 1688; 16 being the ring and 88 the Pope. Can you argue with that?