The most famous lotería cards are El Borracho, El Catrín, La Chalupa, El Valiente, La Sirena, La Dama, El Diablito, La Muerte, El Corazón and El Gallo, and each one comes with a story that families in Mexico still tell at the table. Below you will find what every card shows, its number in the classic Don Clemente deck and what people say about it. Read them tonight, then tell the stories out loud the next time you are the cantor.
This guide goes deep on 10 cards. For all 54 names and numbers in English, see our complete list of lotería cards and their meanings. The numbers here follow the classic Don Clemente deck. Other decks can draw, name or number a card a little differently.
El Borracho lotería card (25): the drunkard
El Borracho is card 25, and his name means "the drunkard." The card shows a man who has clearly had one too many, caught in the middle of a stumble.
He is one of the everyday characters the deck took straight from Mexican life, next to El Valiente, El Soldado and El Corazón, drawn with a wink. In some families the card even turns into a nickname: the tío who likes his drinks gets called El Borracho, and nobody needs to ask why.
Families love him because he gets the biggest laugh of the night, and everyone at the table knows exactly who to look at when the cantor calls his name.
El Catrín lotería card (4): the dandy
El Catrín is card 4. Catrín means a dandy, a man who dresses to be seen, and the card shows exactly that: a gentleman in a top hat and a long coat, with a cane in his hand.
The classic verse sends him out for a stroll: "Don Ferruco en la Alameda, su bastón quería empeñar." In English, Don Ferruco, out on the Alameda, wanted to pawn his cane. Many players read the joke this way: all that style, and not a peso in his pocket. He sits right next to La Dama, card 3, and her verse tells the same kind of joke.
Families love him because every table has someone who shows up dressed to impress, and now that person has a name.
La Chalupa lotería card (48): the canoe
La Chalupa is card 48, and a chalupa is a small canoe. The card shows a woman paddling one, the kind of little boat that people connect with the canals of Xochimilco.
Her verse keeps her moving: "Rema y rema, Joaquinita, y no dejes de remar." That means row and row, Joaquinita, and don't stop rowing. La Chalupa is so loved that some families call the whole game chalupa instead of lotería, and plenty of shoppers type "chalupa" when they look for a lotería set.
Families love her because she feels like a whole afternoon in Xochimilco on one small card.
El Valiente lotería card (12): the brave one
El Valiente is card 12, the brave one. He stands with his chest out and ready for a fight, a sarape over one arm and a blade in his hand.
One traditional verse tries to calm him down: "'Tate quieto, Valentín, no te vayas a pelear." In English, easy now, Valentín, don't go picking a fight.
Families love him as the card of whoever stands up for everyone else.
La Sirena lotería card (6): the mermaid
La Sirena is card 6, the mermaid: a woman with long, loose hair and a fish tail where her legs should be.
Together with El Corazón, she is one of the Don Clemente images that people now see as simply Mexican, and you will spot her far beyond the game board. Many players also see in her the mermaids of old sailor stories: beautiful, a little dangerous, with a song you should not follow too far.
Families love her because she brings a little magic to a deck full of everyday people and things.
La Dama lotería card (3): the lady
La Dama is card 3, the lady. She is dressed in her best, a long and elegant dress, ready to be seen.
Her verse mirrors the one for El Catrín: "La chula de Severiana un tacón quería empeñar." In English, pretty Severiana wanted to pawn the heel of her shoe. Because cards 3 and 4 sit side by side, many players treat La Dama and El Catrín as a couple, both elegant and both a little short on cash.
In some families La Dama is the nickname for the tía who always looks put together. Families love her because everyone knows a real dama, and she is usually sitting at the table.
El Diablito lotería card (2): the little devil
El Diablito is card 2, the little devil, and some lists simply call him El Diablo. He is red, with horns, a tail and a pitchfork, and he looks more mischievous than scary.
Many of the old lotería images look like the Major Arcana of a tarot deck, and the tarot has its own Devil card, so the family resemblance is easy to see. That is likely one reason the Catholic Church made its own lotería in the 1930s, with Catholic images in place of the old ones.
Families love him because the "little" in Diablito says it all: he is trouble, but the fun kind.
La Muerte lotería card (14): death
La Muerte is card 14, Death herself: a skeleton wrapped in a white sheet and holding a scythe.
Her classic verse is pure Mexican humor: "La muerte siriquiflaca, montada en su burra flaca." In English, skinny old Death, riding her skinny donkey. The deck even has a second death card, La Calavera, the skull, at number 42, a picture that stands for Día de Muertos. Like El Diablito, La Muerte has a cousin in the tarot, which also has a Death card.
Families love her because she shows how lotería treats the big things in life: with a joke and a good rhyme, not with fear.
El Corazón lotería card (27): the heart
El Corazón is card 27, the heart: one big red heart, simple and bold.
It is another of the Don Clemente images that people now see as essentially Mexican, together with La Sirena. It also belongs to the everyday side of the deck: the heart that loves, waits and sometimes breaks. One classic verse is about the heart of a heartbreaker.
In many homes it is the card couples fight over. Families love it because every board feels a little luckier when El Corazón is on it.
El Gallo lotería card (1): the rooster
El Gallo is card 1, the rooster that opens the deck. He stands tall and proud, ready to crow.
His classic verse reaches back to the Bible: "El que le cantó a San Pedro no le volverá a cantar." In English, the one who crowed for Saint Peter won't crow for him again, a nod to the rooster in the Gospel story of Peter. The rooster also brings to mind cockfights, and his name lives on in the company that holds the classic images today, Pasatiempos Gallo.
It is fitting that the deck starts with the bird that starts the day. Families love him because when El Gallo comes out first, the game feels like it has truly begun.
Where the classic lotería cards come from
The game started in Italy in the 1400s and reached Mexico, then called New Spain, in the 1700s. The first sets were drawn and colored one at a time on wood or tin, and every set looked different.
The images most families know today come from Clemente Jacques, a French businessman in Mexico who began printing his lotería in 1887. Copies went out to Mexican soldiers along with their rations, and from there the game spread to homes and town fairs. His pictures became so familiar that they helped shape how Mexico saw itself.
The cantor draws one card at a time and often says a short verse, a saying or a joke before the name. Callers make up new ones all the time, so your family may know different verses. That is part of the fun.
How to tell these stories at your next lotería night
You don't need a script. Try these the next time you are the cantor:
- Before the first card, tell everyone which famous cards to watch for, and promise a story when one comes out.
- When El Catrín or La Dama shows up, say the verse and let the table guess the joke.
- Whoever covers El Valiente on their board has to tell about a time they were brave.
- For a small table, the 10 player lotería set comes with 10 boards and a deck of cards.
- For a big family night, a set for 20 players gives everyone a board, with 80 markers and 100 chips.
New to the rules? Our guide on how to play lotería covers the winning patterns and how to be a great cantor. You can also see every set in our lotería games collection. Our lotería sets are Made in Mexico.
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Frequently asked questions about famous lotería cards
What number is El Borracho in lotería?
El Borracho is card 25 in the classic Don Clemente deck. Other decks may number it differently, so check the number printed on your own card.
What does El Catrín mean in lotería?
Catrín means a dandy, a man who dresses up to be seen. The card, number 4, shows a gentleman in a top hat with a cane. Its classic verse jokes that he wanted to pawn his cane, which many players read as all style and no money.
What is La Chalupa in lotería?
La Chalupa is card 48, and it shows a woman paddling a small canoe, the kind of boat people connect with Xochimilco. The word chalupa means canoe. The card is so popular that some families call the whole game chalupa.
Why is there a devil and a Death card in lotería?
El Diablito (2) and La Muerte (14) are part of the classic deck, and many old lotería images look like tarot cards, which have their own Devil and Death. In lotería they are there for laughs and rhymes.
Are the card numbers the same in every lotería deck?
No. The numbers in this guide follow the classic Don Clemente deck, the one most families know. Other decks redraw the cards, change some names or add new ones, so the numbers can move. When you play, the number on your own deck is the one that counts.
Which lotería card is number 1?
El Gallo, the rooster, is card 1 in the classic deck. Its classic verse is about the rooster that crowed for Saint Peter in the Gospels.
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