FANTAN, a Chinese form of gambling. It is simple in form and rule. A square is marked in the centre of a table, or a square of metal or wood is laid on it, the sides of which are marked 1, 2, 3, 4. The croupier now places on the table a double handful of small coins or similar articles and covers them with a bowl. The players select their sides and place their stakes near the number chosen. When all four sides have been backed the bowl is removed and the croupier withdraws the coins from the heap, four at a time, till there remain at most four. In this case the backer of number 4 wins, if there be three remaining coins, number 3 is declared winner, and so on. A percentage is now deducted by the croupier and the winner receives five times the amount of his stake less the percentage. There is a card game of this name also, played with a pack of 52 and by any number of players up to eight. The game starts by
cutting the cards. Ace high deals to the left, one at a time, the cards left over are placed face downward on the table. Each player puts up a stake called the "ante." The first player on the dealer's left is called on to play an ace, which he places, face upward, in the centre of the table. If he have no ace, he pays an "ante* and takes a card from the stack. The second player is then called on, and so on until an ace is played; thereafter the piles are built up from ace to king. The winner of the pool is the player who first gets rid of all his cards. Failure to play, having a playable card, sub jects a player to a fine equalling the amount of the ante for every card remaining in the hands of all the players.