Word: bicheiros
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...animal game has withstood all manner of crackdowns and shakedowns, grown into a $500 million-a-year business that employs roughly 1% of the nation's total working force. Millions of Brazilians play it every day, and almost all have at least a nodding acquaintance with their local bicheiros. "If you see two shacks lost somewhere in the backlands," a Brazilian diplomat once observed, "you can bet that a bicheiro lives in one of them and a steady bettor in the other...
There is never any question of being cheated. "We have to be honest with our customers," says a veteran Rio animal man. "If a bicheiro tried anything funny, word would get around and he'd be out of business." Bicho men, in fact, are often local heroes. Their odds are reasonable, they set neither maximum nor minimum limits on bets and they invariably come to the aid of needy families unable to pay for hospital bills or buy food. Besides, says Sociologist Renato Carneiro Campos, "playing the bicho is about the only hope the worker has of trying...
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