Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1900-12-29
/ THE MONTE CARLO OF ASIA
-e=z9---
Visit 70 he Gambling Iels OF Macao Where Fortunes Are
Lost and Won at Fan.Tan.
,copyrlehted. 1900 by Frank G. Car
penter)


week DAYS year Boo and year out thts'
gambling houses are open. This is the
center of the lottery system OF west
Asia. The Manila company has moved
here and the fortunes which went to
the Philippines now come TO Macao.
The chief gambling Is in fan-tan, 10
which thousands OF dollars are lost ana
won every night boy betting on the NUM-
Der OF copper cash un'er the bowls
IN A CHINESE GAMBLING HE'LL
am sitting IN a gambling hell as ]
write these notes. 10 Us in The heart
OF this Portuguese capital ON the hua
Dc logo the street of the gamblers. III
Is midnight. and the pavement is
thronged with hard-faced Chinese.
running TO and no. The air is fun OF
laughing and Joking and Of the noises
which the Chihese call singing.
There are male roysterers and fe-
males Of pleasure The rest Of the
city Is DARK. but the Rua de Jogo bhzes
with Chinese lanterns It's stores are
omen. and gambling signs invite you
90 buck the tiger The talk Is OF WIN
ming and losing. There Is an almond
eyed long Queued man who tells how ne
won ten thousand dollars last week.
and how a Frenchman came here TO
break the bank and lost four thousand
IN one night Listen He says the
man got II all back the next night and
fifteen thousand dollars 90 boot The
thought stirs the Yankee gambling
blood in US, and We look up the house
where the money was won,
We go through a well-llghted passage
and enter. The ground floor L. fun OF
Chinese. That large room az the right
Is crowded. Yellow men and women
are gathered about long table covered
with mating, upon which money and
chips and Chinese cards are lying
Look uD through that opening which
runs 10 the roof. with galleries at the
second and third floors. See the hun
dreds OF anxious, almond eyes which
are looking down upon the table Mo-
tice their owners as they let down IT.
lie baskets with strings. Each bas-
ket contains the money which its own
er wishes 10 stake When the game Ia
over they pull up their winnings. AS
the baskets 60 down they sing out the
number where the money is 20 be
placed, and at the close Of each game
The bankers shout the numbers which
win.
HOW FAN TAN Is PLAYED.
In another room they are playing
fan-tan IN much the same way Here
the betting is all on the number Of
copper coins under a bowl. The bank
er takes a couple Of handfuls Of coins
from a pile at one side OF the table
and covers them with a brass bowl.
Later on he will count them In fOurs,
and the betting Is as 10 whether they
Will come ont even or whether one, two
or three cash viii be left
The bets flow In from all parts Of
the room. There are hundreds Of dol
lars upon the table, and the CrOupier
calls stop" He raises the bowl and
begins to pull out the coins with two
chopstcks, taking four out at a time
He does II 80 slowly that there Is no
chance Of deception.
The game looks fair and / put my
money on No 1, only 20 find that 3 wins
the stake. The next time | put Is on
2, but luck is against me and II goes
into the pile OF the banker Had / won
/ would have gotten three times my
stake.
This game Of fgn-tan ls played
throughout the Far East. There are
different ways Of counting, but OF
course the chances are always IN
favor OF the banker In some games
the chances are almost even. but the
banker has q commission OF per cent
on all that passes over the table
There is game where the gambler
has one chance Of winning, two Of re-
taining his stake and one OF losing q.
This is called ching-tow II az the close
OF the count one coin Is left. he gets
an amount equal 20 his stake n two
or three he saves his stake, but Il four.
he loses II. Another game allows the
gambler one chance OF winning double
the amount ne puts down two OF losing
and one Of retaining his stake There
Is still another whore he has a chance
OF winning three times the amount he
puts down and three chances OF losing
II. The game Is, In many ways Ike
roulette, although there is no wheel Tor
the rolling ball
THE CHIEF GAMBLERS OF THE
WORLD.
The Chinese are among the greatest
gamblers of the world tou lnI game
bling houses In every Chinese colony.
IN every Chinese city and In every yil-
lage. The people gamble on the road
side ln the tea houses and on board
ship. The steamers which cross the
Pacific from san Francisco 20 Shanghai
often carry thousand or more Chinese