Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1905-12-07
CHINESE GAME OF CHE-FA
It Is Very Similar to the American
Method Of Policy
Playing.

It il q curious thing that here IN
community where the Chinese gam
bling game OF che-fa has fourished FOL
many years comparatively few OUTSIDE
CT those who are devotees at the shrine
of the goddess of chance have even TN
laintest idea of how the game II
played, says the Hawaiian Star.
. Che-fa is a very simple game indeed
and in its very simplicity lies the din
Guilty which the authorities here, al
elsewhere, find In suppression. IL neeoi
mo apparatus or Layout" az do rou
llette, faro and other games OF chance
1t does not even need a pack OF cardi
or supply Of chips.
Simply judged as gambling game
and conceding for the moment that 1
is played on the square, che-fA has IL
,allurements, for it IL on that basis
game In which every player has al
equal chance and the bank simply col
lects a percentage of the money staked
Unfortunately for the players, how
ever, there is not the slightest reason
for doubling that the game a. oroInari
ily conducted is as crooked a. the ira
ditional dogs hind log.
There are SO characters on . che-fa
ticket. each representing some familiar
object. The non, tiger, moon, mouth
silver money, gold money, box, cent?
pede, dog, rat are among these, but
many of the characters represent
things which are not generally dis
cussed In polite society.
A person who wishes to play the
game seeks an agent and gives him
what sum he wishes, from five cents
UP. at the same time indicating what
character he chooses. This character
is marked OF on the agents ticket and
the fortune seeker receives a slip &C.
knowledging his bet or stake. Should
the particular character prove at the
drawing to- be the winning number the
lucky player wins 81 times the amount
of his stake. Thus If he stakes FIVE
cents he wins $3.50 or If he plunges
heavily with, say, 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 winning, so that the
man who won $50 would only receive
$27 from the hands of the agent.
It is one OF the odd traits in the Chi
nese character that made che-fa so
popular with them. They are devoted
believers in dreams. II a Chinaman
dreams Of q rat, for instance, he will
lose no time in seeking a che-fa agent
and backing the rat to win and no
number of recurrent losses seems to
upset the Chinese faith in the heaven.
sent sign fo2 success. OF course. 1t is
apparent that If man played on ev-
cry one Of the 35 characters he would
in all probability win, but his win
would be loss, for he would only re-
ceive 80 times the amount Of the single
bet on the winning character, less the
agents commission of ten per cent.
Such is the game of che-fa. Barring
only the dream portion Of 1t, it does
not seem to possess any particular
and to some people even
the chance of betting that their dreams
will come true does not seem attrac-
tive. Possibly the average American
does not have the same kind Of dreams
as does the mild-eyed chink. That can
easily be imagined from a casual
glimpse at a Chinese meal and a re-
Election Of the possibilities Of what
even simple Welsh rarebit can ac-
complish.