Shi Ba La

Corbett | February 2, 2003 12:21 PM

Chinese new year is here, which means some peace and quiet away from the stress of the office. It also means gambling with friends. The other day we were losing our shirt and getting seriously loaded by playing this game called "shi ba la" with 5 dice in a bowl. We played until 5am. Each dice has only one number (the other sides are blank), and totals 21 in all. So there are a lot of blanks that can come up, and a 7776:1 chance of getting 21. The way it works out it like this:

1) Everyone puts NT$2100 cash into the pot (about US$65). We had 6 people, so like US$400 each round.

2) You have a base of like $30 in front of you.

3) You roll and withdraw the total of the dice from the pot. (3 = NT$300, 10 = NT$1000...etc). If you get all blanks, you put in NT$100, and drink a mini shot of whisky. Lucky enough we were drinking 18 yr old Macallans, so the buzz was warm.

4) I managed like 12+ shots in about the first hour...

5) The fun part starts when you get down to the last $2100 in the pot. If someone rolls the total of the pot, each player has to give that person $2100, as well as the pot. If you roll less than the pot total, you take, if more, you give. This wild luck fluctuation combined with copious amounts of whiskey is hilarious, with people on chairs screaming and jumping up and down. It's a heart stopper when someone rolls the amount of the pot, especially if the total is in double digits.

After draining our pockets with this game, we switched over to an even scarier game...sort of a hybrid of mahjong and blackjack called "tuei tong zi" that is impossible to explain, but the outcome is lots of cash flying around the table, and in 2 minutes you can easily lose a couple hundred bucks. But at least no drinking. I took a two hour comotose daze with PS2 to get my thoughts back, then sat down and immediately lost $400. By the end of the night Irene and I managed to leave up $300. The couple next to us was down $2000.

This kind of gambling happens every night during Chinese New Year. So be prepared, and bring enough cash to get through the night. Not a couple of $20s.

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Category: Mr. Asia

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