Fan-Tan, or fantan is a form of a gambling game long played in China. It is a game of pure chance which has similarities to roulette.
History
The game may have arisen during third and fourth centuries, during the period of the Northern and Southern dynasties. It then spread through southern China during the Qing dynasty. The name fantan dates back only to the mid-nineteenth century. Before that time, fantan was known as yanqian 掩錢, wrote of entering a Chinatown fan-tan parlor: "At the first foot-fall of leather soles on the stepsthe hum of talk ceases, and the group of celestials, crouching over their game of fan tan, stop playing and watch the comer with ugly looks. Fan tan is their ruling passion." The large Chinatown in San Francisco was also home to dozens of fan-tan houses in the 19th century. The city's former police commissioner Jesse B. Cook wrote that in 1889 Chinatown had 50 fan-tan games, and that "in the 50 fan tan gambling houses the tables numbered from one to 24, according to the size of the room." Fan-tan is no longer as popular as it once was, having been replaced by modern casino games like Baccarat, and other traditional Chinese games such as Mah Jong and Pai Gow. Fan-tan is still played at some Macau casinos.
The game
A square is marked in the center of an ordinary table, or a square piece of metal is laid on it, the sides being marked 1, 2, 3 and 4. The banker puts on the table a double handful of small buttons, beads, coins, dried beans, or similar articles, which he covers with a metal bowl. When all bets are placed, the bowl is removed and the "tan kun", or croupier, uses a small bamboo stick to remove the buttons from the heap, four at a time, until the final batch is reached. If it contains four buttons, the backer of No. 4 wins; if three, the backer of No. 3 wins; if two, the backer of No. 2 wins and if one the backer of No. 1 wins. All winning wagers are paid true odds less a house commission, which ranges from 5% to 25% depending on the time and place. Nowadays, in Macau casinos, the house commission is uniformly set at 5%. For example, assume a bettor has $100 wagered on a 3 to 1 wager; if the bet wins, the bettor is paid $285.
