The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1905-07-20
"CHE-FA" AS A
GAMBLING GAME
A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE
CHINESE NATIONAL PASTIME
AS IT Is PLAYED IN HONOLULU.

1t is curious thing that here in a
community where the Chinese gambling
game of che-fa has dourished for
many years comparatively few outside
of tFose who are devotees at the shrine
of the goddess of chance have even the
faintest idea of how the game is play
ed. Only a few weeks ago a morning
paper described >he-fa as a diversion
which was conducted always al night
in the glare of many electric lights
and it is only fair to ada that this
has probably been the idea of the
average law abiding citizen whose
business it is not TO know what goes
ron in the purlieus Of sin as well as in
high places.
Che-fa is a very simple game in
deed and in its very simplicity lies the
difficulty which the authorities here.
as elsewhere find in suppression. 1t
needs no apparatus or layout as do
roulette, faro and other games of
chance. 1t does not even need pack
of cards or d. supply of chips, without
which even the simplest game of poker
would be something of a frost. II
needs no fixed habitat, il needs no
! skilled dealer, in fact it needs nothing
but a man with some money. some
fools who think they can win it from
him and a number of scraps of paper.
| Simply judged as a gambling game
land cOnceding fur the moment that it
is played ION the square" che-fa has
| its allurements for it is '1n that basis
"a game in which every player has an
equal chance and the bank simply col
j 1aat ~ l. 4
! Unfortunately for the players, how
ever, there is not the slightest reason
for doubling that the game as or
dinarily conducted is crooked as the
traditianal dogs hind leg.
There are thirty six characters on a
che-fa ticket each representing some
familiar object. The lion, tiger moon,
mouth, silver money, gold money, box,
centipede, dog, rat are among these
but many of the characters represent
( things which are not generally dis
cusseu i'm polite society. A person who
wishes 10 play the gam seeks an agent
and gives him what sum he wishes
from five cents up, at the same time
indicating what character he chooses
This cuarcter is marked off on the
agents ticket and the fortune seeker
receives 10 slip acknowledging his bet
or stake Should the particular char
acter prove at the drawing to be the
winning number the lucky player wins
thirty times the amount of his stake.
thus if he stakes five cents he wins
$3.50 or if he plunges heavily with say
"a dollar. he wins $50. But he does not
get all that he WINS There is the
agent to be considered and he collects
ten per cent OF the amount of the win
ming, so that 1he man who won $50
would receive only $27 from the hands
of the agent
The winning character is supposed |
TO have been chosen before the drawing !
ana deposited i'm an envelope and it's |
identity is supposed to be secret even |
from the bank itself and those who |
care TO believe that the bank does not !
know it's own business can do so. Ger |
tainly there are many credulous in
dividuals in Honolulu who believe that
the game is played fairly. As n mat
ter of fact though the bank knows fun |
well what characters have been heavily |
backed and can easily select the num-
Der which will call for as little payment
as possible. No matter what character
has ben placed in the envelope, the
simplest kind of sleight-of-hand can
work substitution.
OF course a player can back as many
characters as he pleases up to 35 for
one of the SO on the card is "kapu."
This is always the one which won at
the last drawing, This of course raises
the banks chances amazingly for
should the 'kapu" character be drawn
the bank naturally wins every bet
1t is one of the odd traits i'm the
Chinese character that make che-fa so
popular with them. They are devoted
believers i'm dreams. If a Chinaman {
dreams Of a rat, for instance, he will
lose no time I'm seeking a che-fa agent
ana backing the rat TO win and no
number Of recuwent losses seems to