Patole players would bet items of great value on the outcomes of their games - the idea was to use throws of beans or dice to move all their game pieces around the cross-shaped board and into specially marked squares to win. The Spanish conquistadors apparently reported that the last Aztec king Montezuma enjoyed watching the game being played at his court. This illustration from an Aztec codex of the 16th century shows Macuilxōchitl - the god of art, beauty, dance, flowers and games - watching a game of patole being played. Versions of the game patole or patolli were played throughout pre-Columbian America by several different cultures at different times, including the ancient Toltecs and Mayans.
