Post by NZBC on Jul 16, 2009 20:25:01 GMT 12
PAK-A-PU.
HOW THE GAME IS PLAYED,The Odds Against Breaking the Bank.
A Five Million to One Chance.
"Truth's" account the attempt to break a Chinese Pak-a-pu bank in Haining-street, tends to show that ye ancient game is not dead m Wellington—far from it. Many people imagine they know hpw Pak-a-pu is played, but very few outside of the Chinese, if we except the Caucasian band of bank-breakers secreted m the ceiling-loft with an eye glued to a crack, have actually been present at the "drawing of the bank," so that it may not be out of place at this juncture to explain the modus operandi as described by a Chow sport. ' The price of a ticket is 6d, though, there is m reality bo limit, as a person may pay whatever he likes for a ticket, and if it happens to be a winner, he will be paid correspondingly. F'rinstance, if a person won Is, and had half-a-crown on a ticket, he'd be paid ss, or on a sixpenny ticket winning £21 he would be paid £105. To ! the more thoroughly understand Pak-a-pu and the prizes, we may explain that the amounts on winning tickets are as follow : —
The purchaser of a ticket pays 6d, j 2s 6d, or whatever he chooses, m fact, and he is handed m return a. Pak-a-pu or Chinese lottery ticket,, on which are printed EIGHTY CHINESE CBLARACTERS, or, say, the numbers frdm 1 to 80. At first glance the whole thing, to the European, looks as simple as A.8.C., but it is only v?hen one goes thoroughly into the" thing that he finds it to.be a case of "What can a mortal do against such odds ?"- Recently a well-known, police oflicer got a well-known man of figures to work it out, and it proves to be a five million to one chance against winning, while to pull off a ten mark, ,or £75 prize, the odds run into billions. On this a.ccount it is interesting to go into detail . into the way m which a Pak-a-pu bank is drawn. On the purchaser receiving a blank ticket, he marks off ten of the character —any ten x he likes, but only ten. He then hands the ticket so marked to the Chinese clerk, who enters it into a book and "receipts" the ticket, which he hands back to the purchaser. After the drawing of the bank, copies of the "proof" are available. There are twenty "winning" marks on the proof, and those people fortunate enough to get any on their own to correspond with those on the "bank proof" are paid the sums above mentioned. THE DRAWING OF A PAK-A-PU BANK. The 80 Chinese characters, each on a separate slip of paper, are folded Up, pellet fashion, and all mixed up, sweep fashion, amid much m the way of Chow-chanting and burning of paper. After the pellets have received a "thorough doing" iin the way of mixing up, four slips are numbered—1, 2, 3, 4—and then four basins are numbered m like fashion. Then the 80 Chinese characters undergo some more mixing up, after which, one by one, they are dropped into each basin, until eventually there are twenty pellets m each basin. Now, the four numbered Slips of paper are rolled up, and af,'ter they too have been mixed together, one of them is drawn at random, say, No. 3. The basin labelled No. 3is then proclaimed the bank proof, and the twtsnty Chinese characters contained m the chosen basin constitute THE "WINNING" NUMBERS, and copies of the "bank proof" are distributed. The police might cut this out and paste it m their cadies.
5 marks 0 1 0
6 marks 0 9 0
7 marks 3 15 0
8 marks 21 0 0
9 marks 36 10 0
10 marks 75 0 0
HOW THE GAME IS PLAYED,The Odds Against Breaking the Bank.
A Five Million to One Chance.
"Truth's" account the attempt to break a Chinese Pak-a-pu bank in Haining-street, tends to show that ye ancient game is not dead m Wellington—far from it. Many people imagine they know hpw Pak-a-pu is played, but very few outside of the Chinese, if we except the Caucasian band of bank-breakers secreted m the ceiling-loft with an eye glued to a crack, have actually been present at the "drawing of the bank," so that it may not be out of place at this juncture to explain the modus operandi as described by a Chow sport. ' The price of a ticket is 6d, though, there is m reality bo limit, as a person may pay whatever he likes for a ticket, and if it happens to be a winner, he will be paid correspondingly. F'rinstance, if a person won Is, and had half-a-crown on a ticket, he'd be paid ss, or on a sixpenny ticket winning £21 he would be paid £105. To ! the more thoroughly understand Pak-a-pu and the prizes, we may explain that the amounts on winning tickets are as follow : —
The purchaser of a ticket pays 6d, j 2s 6d, or whatever he chooses, m fact, and he is handed m return a. Pak-a-pu or Chinese lottery ticket,, on which are printed EIGHTY CHINESE CBLARACTERS, or, say, the numbers frdm 1 to 80. At first glance the whole thing, to the European, looks as simple as A.8.C., but it is only v?hen one goes thoroughly into the" thing that he finds it to.be a case of "What can a mortal do against such odds ?"- Recently a well-known, police oflicer got a well-known man of figures to work it out, and it proves to be a five million to one chance against winning, while to pull off a ten mark, ,or £75 prize, the odds run into billions. On this a.ccount it is interesting to go into detail . into the way m which a Pak-a-pu bank is drawn. On the purchaser receiving a blank ticket, he marks off ten of the character —any ten x he likes, but only ten. He then hands the ticket so marked to the Chinese clerk, who enters it into a book and "receipts" the ticket, which he hands back to the purchaser. After the drawing of the bank, copies of the "proof" are available. There are twenty "winning" marks on the proof, and those people fortunate enough to get any on their own to correspond with those on the "bank proof" are paid the sums above mentioned. THE DRAWING OF A PAK-A-PU BANK. The 80 Chinese characters, each on a separate slip of paper, are folded Up, pellet fashion, and all mixed up, sweep fashion, amid much m the way of Chow-chanting and burning of paper. After the pellets have received a "thorough doing" iin the way of mixing up, four slips are numbered—1, 2, 3, 4—and then four basins are numbered m like fashion. Then the 80 Chinese characters undergo some more mixing up, after which, one by one, they are dropped into each basin, until eventually there are twenty pellets m each basin. Now, the four numbered Slips of paper are rolled up, and af,'ter they too have been mixed together, one of them is drawn at random, say, No. 3. The basin labelled No. 3is then proclaimed the bank proof, and the twtsnty Chinese characters contained m the chosen basin constitute THE "WINNING" NUMBERS, and copies of the "bank proof" are distributed. The police might cut this out and paste it m their cadies.
5 marks 0 1 0
6 marks 0 9 0
7 marks 3 15 0
8 marks 21 0 0
9 marks 36 10 0
10 marks 75 0 0