Chinatown  


Fan Tan Alley Street Sign,
Fan Tan Cafe in Background.

Fan Tan

Location: Victoria, B. C.
Date: 1951
Informant: N. de Bertrand Lugrin.
Source: Lugrin, N. de Bertrand. "Victoria Chinatown Mysteries 50 Years Ago," Victoria Sunday Times Magazine, August 25, 1951: 3.

"Gambling is, par excellence, the Chinese amusement. That Coolie is poor indeed who cannot scrape together a few cents to lose or double at chuck-luck or fantan."

Fan Tan Activity

Location: Victoria
Date: 1991
Informant: David Chuenyan Lai
Source: Lai, David Chuenyan. The Forbidden City within Victoria. Victoria, B. C.: Orca Book Publishers, 1991. 40-42.

Fan Tan, the Game

Fan Tan, a gambling game which originated in China, was once very popular in Chinatown's gambling dens, commonly referred to as "Fan Tan Guan" (Fan Tan clubs). "Fan" means to turn over (a cup), and "Tan" means to spread out (a pile of buttons); hence the name of the game. It is played on a square cardboard at the end or in the centre of a table. The sides of the cardboard are assigned four numbers: the side nearest the croupier is one, his right-hand side is two, the opposite side three, and his left-hand four. The players bet on the numbers: if a player places all his stakes on the side, he bets on that number to win, and if he places his bets exactly at a corner between two sides, he bets on either number to win. The gambling club acts as the "bank," and its croupier pays three to one on bets placed on the side and even money on bets at the corner if either number wins. He takes a percentage of all the stakes. In Victoria's Chinatown, the rake-off was usually between seven and ten percent.

At the start of the game, the dealer takes a random handful of white buttons or beads and covers them with a little bowl-shaped brass cup. After players have placed their bets, the dealer lifts the cup and spreads out the pile of buttons with a tapered bamboo stick with a bow at the end. Then the dealer deftly counts off the buttons from the pile, four at a time, with the curved stick. All groups of fours are disregarded; the number of buttons left in the last batch determines the winner. If Player A has placed $10 on two, for example, and Player B $10 on the corner between two and three, both players will lose if the last group contains one or four buttons, Player A will lose, but Player B will receive $9 if the rake-off is ten percent. If the last batch contains two buttons, then Player A will get $27 and Player B $9 after the rake-off.

Here are some examples of "secret signs" used to indicate the names of gambling locations within Victoria's Fan Tan Alley.


Tongs

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