Chinese Gambling Games Greatly Influence American Casinos

Go to any American casino and these days you'll find an assortment of Chinese gambling games awaiting your attention. There's no doubt that the Chinese culture has exerted its influence on American gambling. Here's a list and a brief description of some of the most interesting Chinese gambling games. But you won't find all of them at our American casinos.

Pai Gow Poker

Pai Gow Poker is a cross of American Poker and a Chinese tile game. It's two-fisted poker, since the object is to hold the highest two poker hands. One is a five-card hand and the other just two cards. Players oppose a banker who can be the casino or a player with enough courage and dollars to oppose all the others. You see Pai Gow Poker in virtually all American casinos and around the world.

Sic Bo

Sic Bo translated is dice pair. You play on a special table, using three standard dice. There are a variety of bets you can place and you win based on the results of the roll. Payoff is based upon the odds schedule of the resultant combinations. Many land-based casinos in the U.K., the U.S., and Macau feature Sic Bo.

Fan Tan

Fan Tan was once the favorite of all Chinese gambling games. But its heyday has come and gone. Don't confuse this Traditional Fan Tan with the card game bearing the same name. Cards aren't used for this somewhat improvised game. Objects like beans, buttons, or coins are covered by a bowl placed within a square. The four sides of this square and its corners bear numbers. The gamblers bet on these numbers and the house removes four objects from beneath the bowl at a turn until only one group remains. If the number of objects remaining match the number you have from the square, you win. Today you can play Fan Tan mostly on Internet sites or in Macau.

Mahjong

An ancient Chinese tile game, rumored to have been invented by Confucius himself, Mahjong has reaped the world. Mahjong boasts not only a large, devoted fan base for its American variation, but it has many variants of scoring and even different amounts of tiles in its Cantonese, Japanese, and Vietnamese incarnations, among others. Mahjong is very popular online as well.

It's clear to see that Chinese gambling games have brought a taste of the exotic to American casinos that players are not wishing to give up. In places like Las Vegas and Atlantic City, Chinese gambling games have taken up permanent residence beside the traditionally popular casino games. Players are intrigued and excited by the tight odds and fast play. Surely, Chinese gambling games as a means of entertainment in American casinos are here to stay.