Chinese Fan-Tan

This simple game works on the same principle as the Chinese bean game of Fan-Tan.

It was once an American gambling house game, but it disappeared, because it gives no advantage to the banker.

a) One standard pack of 52 cards;
b) One Joker, to be used for the betting layout;
c) Betting chips, preferably a different colour for each player.

Two or more.

Players aim to guess how nearly the number of cards in a section cut from the pack will be divisible by four.

Banker is determined by high cut.

These are agreed beforehand.

Because each player may make more than one bet, the betting limits do not limit a bank's losses. A banker therefore places to one side, before his first hand as banker, any of his fund of chips that he is not prepared to risk. The remainder constitutes the bank. Any winnings gained during a player's turn as banker must remain at risk in the bank, until the role of banker passes to the next player.

This consists of the Joker, turned face up in the centre of the table. The card is placed, so that one of its short sides is facing the banker.

Each of the Joker's corners is allocated a number. As the banker looks at the card, the lower left corner is 1, the upper left corner 2, the upper right corner 3, and the lower right corner 4.

Bets at the corners of the Joker are on one number only. Bets along the side of the Joker are on the numbers of the two adjacent corners.

Figure 1   Betting

In the example illustrated in Figure 1:
Bet (a) is on 3;
Bet (b) is on 3 and 4;
Bet (c) is on 4 and 1.

A player may place as many bets as he likes, provided that each bet is within the betting limits. For each bet, he puts down the number of chips he wishes to put at risk.

More than one player may make the same bet. The banker does not bet.

The player to the banker's left shuffles the pack thoroughly, and gives it to the banker.

The banker cuts a section of at least one third of the cards from the pack, and then counts them out face down onto the table in groups of four.

If the section divides exactly into groups of four, 4 is the winning number.

If a number of cards are left over after counting out in fours, the number left over is the winning number. For example, if the section comprises 19 cards, there will be four groups of cards and a remainder of three. 3 will therefore be the winning number.

The banker first collects losing bets, and then pays winning ones.

Bets on single numbers are paid at 3 to 1 (bet (a) in Figure 1).
Bets on two numbers are paid at evens (bet (b) in Figure 1).
(Bet (c) in Figure 1 loses.)
The outcome of this example is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2   Settlement

The banker first pays any winnings due to the player at his left, and then those due to the other players in turn.

If the bank is emptied before all winnings have been paid, the winning bets that remain unpaid are simply returned to the bettors.

Unless the bank has been emptied, bank and deal remain with one player for a set number of hands agreed beforehand. After this, the banker receives all the chips then in the bank, and bank and deal pass one player to the left.

The bank and deal pass immediately, if a bank is emptied.

From 'The Official World Encyclopedia of Sports and Games'
© Diagram Visual Information Ltd 1979