The Newtown bee., 1879-07-30
The Chinese National Gambling Game.

The Chinese National Gambling Game.
 '' Fantan" is the national gambling game of the Chinese, and is played by beggar and prince with equal avidity. A correspondent gives an interesting ac- count Of the game as played in a gam i bling house at Macao, situated at the en- trance of the Canton river:
 Gaudily painted lanterns of immense size and ornamented with multitude of cabaliStlc signs swung in front of the portal. which was further adorned by a number of slips of red paper covered. i with Chinese characters and a quantity of tiny oil lamps. On gaining the top of ! the narrow staircase we found ourselves ! in room furnished in the usual Chinese i 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 in the i fashion of a bar counter in first-class | American saloon, except that the top o1 1 it was covered with mating instead of l being polished. Behind this, in the middle, sat the high priest of $ Fantan," !" an enormously corpulent Chinaman, in a very capacious and comfortable arm chair, his legs tucked away beneath him and a water" pipe at his elbow, from which ever and anon he inhaled whif' i or two of the coarse tobacco generally in use among the natives. He was the dealer" and he bestowed a very | friendly recognition upon our host as we entered. Next to the dealer at the banker, a sharp-eyed and sharp-featured man, who had before 1 him a large box containing money, in 1 bank-notes, gold and silver, and an " "abacus" which Chinamen always use to assist them in calculating. Two or three other "solid" looking Celestials in ! long blue gowns also sat in a sort of re- cess behind the table, silently smoking and occasionally protruding a hand, adorned with very long finger nails, with which they altered the position of certain small circular bits of jade on the table which represented the stakes of gam blers who were not present, but who still participated in the fortunes of the game, being quite content to trust the honesty of the prOprietOrs as to the winning or losing. Right in front of the dealer, and riveted to the table, was a piece of white metal about one foot square. This is the Tom Fiddler's ground upon which the gamblers try their luck. The four sides represent the numbers one, two, three and four-that next to the dealer being number one and that next to the players number four. The game | DJ UllC titStlCI Ithlue ful of bright new cash" from heap al his right hand, putting them in a separ- ate heap at his left and covering them over with a little brass cap. Then the players put their stakes on the table on whichever side of the metal square ii may please them.
 One thousand dollars is the limit ir the Macao gambling houses, but the sma est coin is not rejected, and it is not a. un- frequent occurrence to see the European or American "punter risking roll oi banknotes alongside a coolie who is stolidlY '' bucking the tiger :" with two or three cash " at time. Considering that one hundred cash ''equal only one cent, the passion for play, it will be seen, can be gratified at small cost
 When all have staked the dealer removes the brass cover from the small pile oi leash" and with an ivory $ chop-stick. proceeds to count the coins out by fours
 He takes care to bare his arm, and counts slowly and delicately, removing eacl '' cash by the hole in its center, so that everybody may "see fair" The excite ment grows more and more intense as - the pile gradually diminishes, and tho more acute and experienced gambler: often are able to announce the winning number when yet quite a quantity O
 leash " remain untouched. A momen
 and the pile is reduced. to small dimen sions. "G Cat, yee, sam, see," counts tht dealer" one, two, three, four "-'' gat yee, sam, see, ,n ''gat, yee-e-e. sa-am ' Three " cash 3 ''remain as the balance o the heap, and so three is for this tim, the winning number. The banker tbereupon sweeps in all the money tha
 has been staked on Nos.I, ? and i, ant then pays over to those who put theil money OF No. 3 three times the amount
 of their investment, minus eight and | half per cent, which is the profit al
 lowed to the bank. Tea and other re freshments-brandy and soda for tht Europeans, of course-is handed rounC by the boys" and the game recom
 mpnces. The room was full of people all the time, and the two galleries tha
 ran round it were also occupied by play ) CTS who let down their stakes in smal basket provided for the purpose and gave directions to the dealer where to plac, it. One dried up old Chinaman in thi: gallery won 5000 in three deals, simply leaving his stake on the same side all tn time Neither the dealer nor the banker evinced the smallest degree of emotion whether the table won or lost and the. never spoke except in monosyllables.