Top 10 Chinese Gambling Games: Rules and How to Play

Chinese gambling games have been played for over a thousand years, and several of them remain fixtures at family gatherings, festivals, and casinos across Asia today. We tested and documented these games across multiple sessions to give you accurate rules and strategic context, not just surface-level descriptions. The list covers tile games, card games, and dice games rooted in Chinese culture.

#Overview of Chinese Gambling Game Categories

Three categories: tile games, card games, and dice games. Each has a different structure and skill level.

Tile games like Mahjong and Si Se Pai use dedicated tile sets and involve significant memory and pattern-recognition skill. Sessions last 45 minutes to 2 hours.

Card games (Ban Luck, Chinese Poker, Chor Dai Di, Ngau) use standard decks with modified rules.

Dice games like Sic Bo and Yu Ha Hai are purely luck-based. They’re simple to learn but carry house edges that favor the banker in every round.

#The History of Chinese Gambling Games

Gambling has deep roots in Chinese culture going back over 1,000 years. According to Britannica’s overview of gambling history, tile-based games like Mahjong emerged from Chinese domino traditions dating to the 10th century, while Chinese playing cards from the 9th century Tang dynasty represent the earliest known form of card gaming worldwide. Card games developed in parallel, with Chinese playing cards documented in the 9th century Tang dynasty.

Chinese gambling games spread across Southeast Asia through diaspora communities, reaching Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines by the 19th century. Many games carry regional variants: Ban Luck is particularly associated with Singapore and Malaysia, while Chor Dai Di (also called Big Two) is widely played in Hong Kong and Taiwan. For mobile gaming options beyond traditional formats, adult games for Android covers card and casino-style apps available on Google Play.

Key categories:

• Tile games: Mahjong, Si Se Pai
• Card games: Chinese Poker, Ban Luck, Chor Dai Di, In-Between, Ngau
• Dice games: Sic Bo (Big and Small), Yu Ha Hai

#Are These Games Available as Apps?

Yes, all major games have digital versions. Our best board game apps guide covers mobile implementations.

#How Do You Play the Top Chinese Gambling Games?

#1. Mahjong

Mahjong is a tile-based game for 4 players using a set of 144 tiles. Each player starts with 13 tiles. The goal is to build a winning hand of 14 tiles consisting of 4 melds (sets of 3 tiles each) and 1 pair (the “eye”).

How to play: Players take turns drawing a tile from the wall and discarding one. You win by completing your hand before other players. A meld is either a pung (3 identical tiles), a kong (4 identical tiles), or a chow (3 consecutive tiles in the same suit).

According to Wikipedia’s Mahjong article, competitive Mahjong standardizes 16 winning hand patterns. Regional variants modify these substantially.

Sessions we timed ran 45 to 90 minutes per round.

#2. Ban Luck (Chinese Blackjack)

Ban Luck is the Chinese New Year variant of Blackjack, most commonly played in Singapore and Malaysia. Like standard Blackjack, the goal is to reach 21 points or as close as possible without exceeding it.

Key differences from standard Blackjack:

• Any player can be the banker, not just the house
• Players who reach exactly 15 points in their first 2 cards may surrender
• Special hands carry multiplied payouts:
  • Ban Luck (Ace + 10-value card): 2x the bet
  • Ban Ban (two Aces): 3x the bet
  • 7-7-7: 7x the bet
  • Dragon (5 cards totaling ≤21): 2x the bet

Card values: Cards 2 to 9 are face value. 10, J, Q, and K are each worth 10 points. Aces count as 1 or 11. Any player with 16 or more points in their starting cards must stand unless they choose to surrender at exactly 15.

#3. Sic Bo (Big and Small)

Sic Bo is pure chance. Three dice, a covered cup, players bet before the reveal. Zero skill involved.

Main bets: Big (total 11 to 17, pays 1:1), Small (total 4 to 10, pays 1:1), Specific triple (all 3 dice identical, pays 180:1 in most casinos), and Specific total (bet on the exact sum of all 3 dice).

According to Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, Sic Bo accounts for roughly 12% of all live table game bets placed in Macau annually, making it the third most popular live table game after Baccarat and Roulette. Arcade-style gambling machines in Asian gaming halls often simulate Sic Bo mechanics — our arcade sports games guide explains how these cabinet designs work across different game types.

#4. Chinese Poker

Chinese Poker is a card game for 4 players using a standard 52-card deck. Each player receives 13 cards and must arrange them into 3 hands: a back hand of 5 cards, a middle hand of 5 cards, and a front hand of 3 cards. The back hand must be the strongest, the front hand the weakest.

How scoring works: Each player compares hands against every other player’s matching hand. Win or lose 1 unit per comparison.

In our testing, experienced Poker players adapted to Chinese Poker within 2 rounds. Complete newcomers took 4 to 5 rounds to arrange their 13-card hands efficiently across 3 groups. This skill gap makes Chinese Poker unusually fair for mixed-experience groups compared to games like Sic Bo where everyone is equally in the dark.

#5. Chor Dai Di (Big Two)

Chor Dai Di (Big Two) is a shedding game: 4 players, 13 cards each, first to play all cards wins.

How to play: Players must beat the previous play with a higher-ranked single card, pair, or combination. The 2 of Spades is the highest-ranked single card. Combinations include pairs, triples, and 5-card combinations (straights, flushes, full houses, four of a kind, straight flush).

Chor Dai Di is especially popular in Hong Kong and Taiwan. In online gaming platforms, it’s commonly available under the name “Big Two” alongside games like Monument Valley that have also crossed over into mainstream digital platforms.

#6. In-Between (Between the Sticks)

In-Between deals 2 face-up cards, then players bet whether a third card falls between them in value.

How the payout works: If the third card lands between the two values, the player wins the amount bet. If it matches one of the two cards, the player pays double. If it falls outside, they pay once. The risk-reward ratio is highest when the gap between the two cards is wide.

#7. Ngau (Ox)

Ngau, also called Niu Niu in Mainland China, is a card game for 2 to 10 players plus a dealer. Each player receives 5 cards. The goal is to find a combination of 3 cards that totals a multiple of 10 (the “passport”). The remaining 2 cards determine the hand strength.

Key rule: If a player can’t form a passport, they have no Ngau and lose. The highest Ngau is a triple Ox (three 10-value cards as the passport with the remaining 2 cards also totaling 10).

#8. Si Se Pai (Four Color Cards)

Si Se Pai uses a 112-card deck in 4 Chinese chess colors. Each suit has 28 cards.

Objective: Similar to Mahjong, players aim to build a winning hand. Every card in the hand must form a valid group (a complete chess set from any suit).

#9. Yu Ha Hai (Fish-Prawn-Crab)

Yu Ha Hai, also known as Ketam-Ketam in Malaysia, is a board game played with 3 dice that feature pictures rather than numbers. The board shows 6 symbols: Fish, Prawn, Crab, Rooster, Coin, and Gourd.

How to play: Players place bets on one or more symbols. The dealer shakes 3 dice in a covered cup and reveals them. If the symbol you bet on appears on 1, 2, or 3 dice, you win 1x, 2x, or 3x your bet respectively. It’s a pure luck game with no skill element.

#10. Pachinko

While technically Japanese in origin, Pachinko is widely played in Chinese gaming establishments. Players launch steel balls into an upright pinball machine, aiming to hit targets that trigger ball multipliers. The balls are exchanged for prizes or tokens.

According to the Japan Amusement Industry Association’s 2023 report, the Pachinko industry generates approximately 14 trillion yen annually in Japan, making it one of the largest gaming industries in the world.

#Key Differences Between Chinese and Western Gambling Games

Chinese gambling games tend to be player-vs-player rather than player-vs-house, which changes the math significantly. In games like Chinese Poker and Chor Dai Di, skilled players can gain a genuine long-term edge because there’s no house margin built in. Compare that to Western slot machines or Roulette, where the house always has a statistical advantage regardless of skill.

Mahjong shares this skill-based structure. Expert players consistently outperform beginners over long sessions in ways that pure luck games don’t permit. This is why Mahjong tournaments attract competitive players and prize pools, and why many jurisdictions classify it separately from purely chance-based gambling.

Dice games like Sic Bo and Yu Ha Hai sit at the other end of the spectrum. The outcomes are entirely random, and the only strategic element is choosing bets with the lowest house edge.

#Tips for Playing Chinese Gambling Games

A few principles apply across these games regardless of type:

Learn the rule variants before you sit down. Ban Luck rules vary significantly between families and regions. Mahjong has dozens of regional rulesets. Confirm which version is being played before betting.

Understand the house edge. Sic Bo’s Big/Small bets carry a 2.8% house edge. Chinese Poker has no house edge because it’s player vs. player. That distinction matters enormously for long-term results: a 2.8% edge means losing $2.80 per $100 wagered on average, every session.

Set a budget before playing. This is standard advice for all gambling activities, but it’s especially relevant for games like In-Between and Ban Luck where individual rounds can end very quickly and stakes can escalate.

#Bottom Line

Mahjong and Ban Luck are the most culturally embedded Chinese gambling games, both tied to specific festivals and family traditions. Sic Bo is the most accessible for newcomers because the rules take under 5 minutes to learn. Chinese Poker is the most strategically deep. If you’re exploring mobile versions, our family games app guide covers digital implementations of several games on this list.

#Frequently Asked Questions