Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1879-08-07
The Chinese National Gambling Game.

The Chinese National Gambling Game.
Fantan is the national gambling
game OF the Chinese, and Is played by
bcggar ana prince with equal avidity.
correspondent gives an interesting nc
count OF the game as played in "A gam
bling house at Macao, situated nj tho en-
trance Of the Canton river:
Gaudily painted lanterns Of immense
size and ornnmentcd with multitude of
chbnllstic signs swung in front of the
portal, which was further adorned by n
number oi slips Of red paper covered
with Chinese characters and quantity
of tiny oil lamps. On gaining the ton Of
the narrow staircase we found ourselves
in room furnished in the usual Chinese
fashion, with polished wooden stools
and tables ranged all round the sides and
with carved ornaments decorating the
walls. About half way across one side
extended high table very much i'm the
fashion of bar counter in "A first-clags
American saloon, except that the top oI
ii was covered with mating instead of
being polished. Behind this. in the
middle, sat the high priest Of E" Fantan,"
an enormously cOrpulcnt Chinamun, in
very capacious and comfortable arm
chair. his legs tucked away beneath him
and "A - watcr' pipe at his elbow. from
which ever and anon he inhaled Whit
or two Of the coarse tobacco generally in
use among the natives. He was the
dealer" and hc bestowed very
friendly recognition upon our host
as we entered. Next 10 the dealer
at the banker, e sharp-cycd and
sharp-icaturcd man, who had before
him large box containing money. in
bank notes. gold and silver. and an
"abacus" which Cinnamon always Use
60 assist them in calculating. Two or
three other solid looking Cclcsiials in
long blue gowns also sat in Il sort Of re-
cess behind the table, silently smoking
and occasionally protruding hand.
adorned with very long finger nails. with
which they altered the position of ccrta
small circular bits Of Jade on tho table
which represented the stakes Of gam
blcr- who were not present, but who still
participated in tho fortunes Of the game.
being quite content to trust the honesty
Of the propriciors as 10 the winning or
losing Right in front Of the dealer.
and riycted 10 the table, was piece Of
white metal about one foot square.
This Is the Tom Fiddlcr's ground upon
which the gambler. try their luck Tho
four sides represent the numbers one,
two, three and four--that next Ia the
dealer being number one and that next
10 the players number four. The game
commences by the dealer taking a hand
ful of bright new CASH from a heap at
his right hand. putting them in "a -cpar-
ate heap n his loft and covering ihem
over with littlc brass cap. Then the
players put their stakes on the table on
whichever side Of the metal square it
may please them.
One thousand dollar, Is the limit in the
Macao gambling houses. but the uallc-t
coin j. not rejected, and Il is NJ an un-
frequent occurrence 30 see the l.ropeau
or American "punt"r risking roll oi
hanknutea alongside "a ruolic who is
stnlidly bucking the tiger with two
OF three "cash ' at a time. Considering
that one hundred cash equal only one
cent. -hc passion for play, il will bc
seen. can be gruiiicd ~ small cost
When al have z,akcd ihe dealer removes
tho brass cover from the small pile Of
"cash. and with an ivory chop stick"
proceeds 10 count the coins out by fouTs
ctakcs care 10 bare his arm. and counts
slowly and d,licaicly. removing each
90 cash by the hole in it, center, so that
everybody may see fair The excite
mout grows more and more intense rs
the pile gradually diminishcs, and the
more acute and experienced gamblers
often are able TO announce the winning
number when yet quite n quantity of
cash remain untouched. A moment
and the pile Is reduced To small dimon-
sions Cat. ycc. sam. Sec" counts the
dealer" one, two. three. four ~" g;si,
gee. sam. see. "gat. Yee-o-c. Ea-am =
Three leash remain as tlic balance oi
the heap. and SO three Is for this time
the winning number. The banker
theroupon sweeps in all the money that
has been Ftakcd on Nos.l. ? and {, and
then pays over 20 those who put their
money on No ? three times the amount
Of their Investment. minus eight and n
half per cent, which j. the profit ai-
lowed Ia the bank. Tea and other re-
frcshmonts-hrandy and soda for the
Europeans. Of Coursc--is handed round
by the boys" and the game recon-
mongcs The room was full 81 people
all the time. and the two galleries that
ran round IL were also occupied by play
CTS who let down their stakes in a small
basket provided Tor the purpose and gave
directions 10 the dealer where 10 place
g. One dried W old Chinaman I'm this
gallery won $4,000 In thre" deals. simply
leaving his stake on the same side All the
time. Neither the dealer nor the banker
cvinccd the smallest degree Of emotion
whether the table won or lost and they
never spoke except in monosy Tables.
A. III