Long Shot

Until last week, Jilma Bejarano, an illiterate mestizo, servant girl in Caracas, had never seen as much as 100 bolivars ($30) at one time. Now she has 209,503 bolivars (more than $62,000), plans to buy three houses, bring her six illegitimate children from the country to the city. Jilma is a winner of the five-and-six, Caracas' long-shot version of the U.S. daily double.

Dreamed up by the managers of the local race track, five-and-six has become a national obsession in Venezuela. More than 1,500,000 bolivars ($450,000) are wagered every week. To play five-and-six, the hopeful buy forms at four bolivars each, fill in the names of the six horses they select to win in the six races held every Saturday at the Hipodromo, and wait for the miracle to strike. If the six horses win, the successful picker may get or share with other winners as much as 400,000 bolivars; if five win, he gets a smaller amount.

Today, five-and-six is the hottest issue in the country. Because of the race-track competition, the National Lottery, whose profits go to the Ministry of Health, has a deficit. Retailers are up in arms because people spend all their money on five-and-six tickets. The press and clergy see a threat to morals.

Last week, four Cabinet ministers met with race-track managers to discuss Government regulation of five-and-six. The managers took the first play, said that they planned to contribute enough to the Public Welfare Board to make up for the National Lottery deficit. That left the next move to the Government.

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