An Oriental joke goes like this when four Britons are under the same roof, they form a club; when four Frenchmen get together, they talk about women; when four Americans meet, they discuss business; and when four Chinese—male or female, young or old—assemble, they play a few rounds of Mahjong.
Generally speaking, the Chinese people are conservative about culture and social institutions. Not so about gambling. However, southerners are more ardent gamblers than northerners. Games are simple, complicated—and numerous. Despite eternal admonitions that the wagerer will "lose nine out of ten games" and will always "lose in the long run", few inveterate gamblers of China reform. They are always confident their luck will change tomorrow.
Chinese gambling games include such colorfully named pastimes as Fan-tan, Tung-pao, Cards of Four Colors, Pai-chiu, Word Flower, Ta-hsiao (or Ya-pao), Fish-Shrimp-Crab, chess and Go, cricket fighting, fist fighting, cock fighting, weather forecasting, and Mahjong.
Fan-tan is popular among the Cantonese and is still played in the gambling houses of Macao, the Portuguese colony near Hongkong. The banker covers a large handful of small objects (such as beans) with a bowl. Players bet on numbers from one to four. The banker counts off the beans by four. The last count of one, two, three or four beans determines the winner.
Tung-pao is popular in Chekiang and Kiangsu provinces. The players bet on one of the four directions—east, south, west, and north. The banker has a direction-pointer in a box. Excitement mounts as the players, betting on one of the directions, prod the banker to give some sign about his choice. "Is this the right one?" "Is that O.K.?" they ask, meanwhile looking into the eyes of the banker in the hope of finding a response. This game is always noisy.
Cards of Four Colors is played with a pack of 112 long, narrow cards in red, green yellow, and white colors. The cards also bear symbols similar to those of Chinese chess. There are generals, aides, ministers, chariots, horses, cannon, and foot soldiers. This game is popular among Taiwanese women and also among women of some Southeast Asian countries. Similar games but with different symbols are played by the Chinese of other provinces and by Koreans.
Luck in Nines
Pai-chiu literally means "card nine". The "cards" are really small tiles, inscribed with from 2 to 12 marks. Each person draws two tiles. The supreme suit is the "royal pair" (a 3 and a 6). Then come the "heavenly pair" (two 12s), the "earthly pair" (two 2s), the "human pair" (two 8s), and other less powerful pairs. When there are no pairs, the marks are totaled. Ten is the weakest. Nine is the strongest, then come 8, 7, 6, and so on. When the total exceeds 10, 10 is subtracted. When the total exceeds 20, 20 is subtracted. For instance, 23 is counted as 3, 20 as 10 and 12 as 2. When more than one player holds 9 points, the winner is decided by the presence of a "heavenly", "earthly" or "human" tile. For instance, 9 points made up of a 12 (heavenly tile) and a 7 will triumph over the 9 points made up of a 2 (earthly tile) and a 7, or the 9 points resulting from an 8 (human tile) and an 11. The "royal pair" is powerless when separated.
Pai-chiu is popular throughout China. It is widely played in Taiwan. Stakes are often high. The excitement lies in the all-or-nothing determination of the second tile.
The tiles are made of ox bone, ivory or plastic.
In the game of Word Flower, there are 40 items represented by four deities and 36 animals. The banker usually has a few brain-trusters to assist him. He puts one of the items into a container, locks it up in the morning and opens it in the afternoon. He also gives clues to the players in the form of illustrated riddles. A winning bet returns 36 to 1.
In the early years of the Republic of China, this game was popular in Kwangtung and Fukien provinces. Superstitions abound. Players seek tips from deities, ghosts, and their own dreams. A player who dreams of a dog will bet on No. 11 (represented by a dog).
Played in Cholon
Word Flower was played in the big gambling houses of Cholon (Saigon) until 1955 when Vietnam President Ngo Dinh Diem outlawed gambling.
The game of Fish-Shrimp-Crab is played with three dice bearing the symbols of fish, shrimp, crab, deer, rooster, and gourd. This game is popular among teen-agers.
Ta-hsiao means "big and small". Cantonese call it Tai-hsiu and northerners call it Ya-pao. The game is played in the gambling houses of Macao. When the total of three dice exceeds 10, it is "big"; when the total points are 10 or less, that's "small". When the three dice show identical numbers—such as 111, 222, 333, 444, 555 or 666—the banker wins. Bets may be made on numbers as well as on "big and small".
There are pretty girls at each table to announce the results by chanting queer sentences. For instance, when the three dice are 1, 2 and 3, she chants loudly: "H.e.r.e ... it opens, one two three are six, chicken (1 and 2), red four (1 and 3), black five (2 and 3) a.n.d ... small!"
There is a popular fable among players of this game. A man named Wang had a banknote of large denomination. He wanted to change it into small bills but could not. He decided to go to a gambling house, thinking to bet on either "big" or "small" to win a little money and change his banknote. He bet a dollar on "big" but lost. Then he bet two dollars. He doubled the stakes and insisted on betting on "big" until all his money was gone. "Big" never came up. The odds are even, but single runs may be very long, as with black or red in roulette.
In Taiwan, gambling is prohibited. Those who break the law have modified the game. Only two dice are used. Dice sharks claim they can control the dice without cheating.
Cricket Fighting
Cricket fighting previously was popular in South China and is still so in Hongkong and Macao. Gamblers are specialists in selecting, raising, and training strong and fierce crickets. It is said that crickets residing in snake holes are particularly strong and aggressive. The search is for a cricket with loud voice, sharp teeth, strong legs, and an "aggressive nature".
Cricket catchers use nets and a flash-light to catch the insects in the early dawn. Crickets must not be touched by hand and must be raised in a natural environment. Weak crickets are used in training the strong ones. Fighting crickets improve their combat skill, grow stronger, and achieve "confidence" for battle. Only male crickets fight.
Fish fighting is popular among teen-agers in South China. But this game is usually played for fun rather than for money. The green and red fighting fish, about two inches long, live in lotus ponds or small streams. As with crickets, only the male fish fight. Larvae of the mosquito is the favored food. Training is like that for crickets. Before a fight, fighting fish are not fed. However, they should not be so hungry as to reduce their speed and motility.
Like many other peoples of the world, those of South China enjoy cock fighting. However, it is not popular in Taiwan.
Hsian Chi, or Chinese chess, and Go games are played more for recreation than gambling. Chess sharks are often found squatting on sidewalks or in parks, waiting for a challenge. When betting takes place, the stakes are usually small.
Pedicab drivers often use the chess buttons to play other games—such as pitching toward a line—while waiting for passengers. In chess games, betting by spectators is common.
Weather Vagaries
In Kompongthom town of Cambodia, overseas Chinese residents (most of them from northern Kwangtung province) play a peculiar gambling game—weather forecasting. This Cambodian town often has sudden and unpredictable rains. Gamblers meet in a fixed place and bet on when (within minutes or hours) it will rain, how long the rain will last, and what will be the amount. The mercurial weather often deceives the most experienced weathermen.
No gambling game in the world enjoy greater popularity than Mahjong, which is played by many Chinese and has become popular in the West.
Mahjong was invented during the Ming dynasty (1368-1628) and has undergone many changes. The Empress Dowager of the last Manchu court enjoyed the game and was proud of her technique. However, it was said that when she was playing a eunuch walked around the table to see the tiles of the other three players. When she needed a certain tile, the eunuch would signal so that the others would discard it. If anyone withheld the tiles she wanted, she became angry.
Mahjong is played by four persons with 144 tiles that are drawn and discarded until one player obtains a winning hand of 4 sets of 3 tiles and a pair. The Fukienese style of play calls for 5 sets of 3 tiles and a pair. There is old-style Mahjong and new-style Mahjong. The new-style has eight "flower tiles"—plum, orchid, chrysanthemum, bamboo, spring, summer, autumn and winter. In overseas Chinese communities, tiles now represent atomic bombs and other weapons.
Mahjong can be played for fun but rarely is. It can become a social problem. Men sometimes become so preoccupied that they neglect their work and women their families. Since 1963, the Taiwan Provincial Government has banned Mahjong to conserve the social and cultural energies-of the people. It is played, of course, but more quietly and with lower stakes.
In Hongkong, there are. Mahjong parlors where one finds his own levels of play. The game may be played by day and in the evening but not late at night. Marathon games move to boats during the night hours.
Mahjong tiles are usually made of plastic, sometimes with bamboo backing. In the United States, Mahjong players have designed paper cards to eliminate the clicking noise made when the plastic tiles are played on the table.
The game of Mahjong is easy to learn but difficult to master. It requires a good memory, clear mind, and fast hand. Professional gamblers have many ways to instruct their "partners" to discard a needed tile.
A new game is betting on the last two numbers of the winning ticket in the government lottery. One dollar wins 70.