All that can still be found today in the Buenos Aires cafes, just in smaller doses.
"The country is just destroyed," said Ricardo Nakab, 44, as he read a horse racing form between throws of the dice at 36 Billares, a cafe and billiard hall that has been a working-class institution on Avenida de Mayo since 1894.
"Look around you," said Nakab, who has not had a steady job in several years, as he pointed to groups of men playing tute cabrero, a complicated Argentine card game. "People used to play for five or 10 pesos a game. Now they play for three pesos or for a cup of coffee."
Pesos, which are worth a dollar, have become so tight that the 70 regulars who come every night have just about given up playing chinchon, a card game akin to gin rummy, because the stakes rise too quickly.
"Business is really down," said Ernesto Vidal, 45, the manager of 36 Billares. "We used to stay open all night. Now we turn the lights out at 3 a.m. and only unlock the doors for people we know. We used to have lines waiting for tables. No more. We used to sell a round of coffee after every domino game; now it's after every other round."
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