Cultural reference · English
The rules of jogo do bicho
There is no single codified rulebook — jogo do bicho is a folk game whose norms exist as customary practice, refined over 130+ years and reasonably consistent across bookmakers. This page documents the traditional rules in the form most operators still honor.
1. Bet acceptance
- Minimum stake: traditionally R$ 0.50 to R$ 1.00. Modern digital operators may accept lower amounts, e.g. R$ 0.10 on grupo bets.
- Cutoff time: bets close a few minutes before each draw. A common rule is "até dar poste," meaning up to the moment the winning number is announced.
- Written form: traditionally, a paper slip with the bet, the modality, the stake and the date. Digital replacements: SMS, WhatsApp, or a bookmaker web app.
2. Draw and prize resolution
- Each draw produces five prize numbers: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th.
- The 1st prize is called cabeça (head).
- For a bet on grupo cabeça (animal, head only), only the last two digits of the 1st prize are checked.
- For a bet on grupo cercado (animal, any of the five prizes), the animal wins if any of the five prize numbers end in a digit pair mapped to that animal — but the payout is reduced, typically by a factor of 5.
3. Payout multipliers (traditional table)
| Bet | Multiplier |
|---|---|
| Grupo (cabeça) | 18× |
| Dezena (tens, cabeça) | 60× |
| Centena (hundreds, cabeça) | 600× |
| Milhar seca (thousands, cabeça only) | 4,000× |
| Milhar cabeça (thousands, cabeça, lower rate) | 3,000× |
| Milhar invertida (any permutation) | ~1,000× depending on how many permutations |
| Duque de grupo (2 animals in 5 prizes) | ~18× |
| Terno de grupo (3 animals in 5 prizes) | ~130× |
4. Tie-break and edge cases
- Prize number 00. When the last two digits of a prize are 00, the winning animal is 25 (Vaca / Cow)— not group 00 (which does not exist). This is the traditional "bicho da vaca" rule.
- No draw / annulled draw. If the Federal draw is postponed or annulled by CEF, the operator returns the stake or carries the bet to the next draw, at the customer's option.
- Multiple animals per bet. Some operators accept "combinado" bets covering more than one animal; the payout is proportionally reduced.
5. Payout
- Traditional bookmakers pay out in cash the day after the draw.
- Modern digital operators pay via Pix (the Brazilian instant-payments system) within minutes.
- Winnings are legally "natural obligations" in Brazil (article 814 of the Civil Code): if the operator refuses to pay, the bettor has no judicial remedy. This is one of the reasons operator reputation matters so much in the traditional bicho world.
Reminder: this is a reference page. Operating jogo do bicho is a criminal misdemeanor in Brazil under Decreto-Lei 3.688/1941 (see our legality page). We do not accept bets or facilitate wagering.