A general population study of Brazilian lottery players who engage in ‘Jogo do Bicho’ (Brazilian Animal Game) and their motivations

Jogo Do Bicho, also known as the Brazilian Animal Game (BAG), is an immensely popular illegal gambling game in Brazil. Indeed, BAG generates over 60% more in revenues than legal lotteries. This is a concern as the revenue from BAG is used to fund criminal activities. Further, draws for BAG occur more frequently than the official state lotteries, which may increase the probability of an individual developing a gambling addiction. Unfortunately, there have only been a few research studies on BAG, which have focused on gamblers in treatment who make up a small portion of gamblers overall. Thus, the proposed research will examine whether BAG is associated with increased risk of gambling addiction among lottery players in the general population. In addition, the research will examine BAG player’s motivations for engaging in BAG over legal lotteries. It is expected that BAG will be associated with an increase in gambling related harms and that the ease of play and frequent draws will be main factors why gamblers chose BAG over legal lotteries.

Faculty Supervisor:

David Hodgins

Student:

Hyoun Soo Kim

Partner:

Discipline:

Psychology

Sector:

University:

University of Calgary

Program:

Globalink Research Award