Other Sites

Video Poker

Top Non-Western Gambling Games

Gambling is present everywhere around the world. If the West has its own gambling games, the Eastern part of the globe is not left behind.

In Far East Asia, among the top gambling games are the pachinko and pachinslo of Japan. Gamblers abound in Japan where pachinko and pachinslo machines number at 5 million. The gambling industry in the land of the rising sun generates more than $10 billion in revenue each year. Japan also uses the pari-mutuel betting system on racing which was legalized in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Legal betting is allowed on horse, bicycle, boat and motorcycle racing. In Korea, millions of Koreans engage in cycling betting every year.

The Chinese poker is a famous gambling game in Hong Kong and other parts of Southeast Asia. The game is somewhat related to Pai Gow and uses a standard 52 card pack. The goal is to arrange 13 cards in three poker hands which should beat the poker hands of the other players. Four players are involved, each if them playing for themselves.

Keno is also a gambling game similar to a lottery or bingo. A player normally picks any numbers from one to 20 and marks them on a keno ticket. The numbers in Keno range from 1 to 80. In the casino, 20 numbers are drawn at random. This game started during the Han dynasty in China and was believed to have been brought by Chinese immigrants to America.

Cockfighting is a famous gambling game in the Philippines and is also considered a sporting event. It began during the pre-Spanish era and involves both the wealthy and the less privileged. A cockfight takes place in a cockpit and involves two trained roosters called “gamecocks” or “cocks.” The roosters are well bred and trained to increase their stamina. The bets are usually made on the result of the cockfight.

In Singapore, the Chinese, notably those aged between 30 and 49 years, comprise most of the groups that engage in gambling. The lotteries there are the top gambling games. These include the 4D, Toto and Singapore Sweep. Mahjong and card games in Singapore are considered social gambling.

Thais are also fond of gambling especially on playing cards and domino. But the most popular form of gambling there today is the Huai, a type of lotto prevalent in the Phuket province and still illegal. The two decimal figures of the stock market index are used as the basis of the winning numbers in Huai. The winning depends on the amount of your bet — ranging from 70 to 80 times your bet.