Bolita (Spanish for Little Ball), is a type of lottery which was popular in the latter 19th an early 20th centuries in Cuba and among Florida's working class Hispanic, Italian, and black population. Bolita was brought to Tampa in the 1880s, and flourished in Ybor City's many Latin saloons. Though the game was illegal in Florida, small, mobile operations which frequently moved around and eventually police payoffs were able to keep the bolita games running for a long time.