The first official Lottery was held in Venice by the Consiglio dei Pregadi, the old Venetian Senate, in 1522.
The prizes were a series of houses, Real Estate stuff and it was called “Lotto del Ponte di Rialto”, Rialto Bridge Lottery. It was so advertised:
"... lotto di immobili, botteghe a pie' del ponte di Rialto,
che sono contigue a quelle del Capitolo, e preti di San Bartolomeo verso la chiesa che risponde
dall'altro capo sopra il Canal Grande,
e haveranno la vista sopra il stradon,
che sarà fatto nel mezzo di esso ponte"
"... Real Estate properties, stores located in the lower level in the Rialto Bridge, close to those of the Capitolo, and the Preti di San Bartolomeo towards the church that is at the other side above the Grand Canal (a such & such location ...)
and will have a view over the road,
which will be made in the middle of the bridge itself."
You could win 100,000 Ducati just betting two Scudi, that was a very dismal amount, in comparison.
Useless to say, people of all social condition loved this possibility and would surrender quite a bit of their limited wealth to the State in this way.
All other Lotteries were usually held in the "Campi", set on a stage, as a Charlatan, and a blindfolded child would draw the "good numbers".
Betting in the "pirie" was definitely an attractive pastime extended to all social classes. It usually happened inside the typical population reunion sites: the churches.
Venetians would bet on about everything:
