JILI365 Fan Tan Game: Counting Beads to One of Four Outcomes
The casino Fan Tan game has no cards.
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The Fan Tan game on a casino table is not the card game of the same name: a croupier counts a heap of small objects off four at a time, and you bet on how many are left at the end. If you want the card version with suit rows built from the sevens, the Pekwa card game page covers it. This page covers the bead game as it is traditionally described, and the card game rules every table shares do not apply to it.
How a round of the Fan Tan game runs
- The table has a square marked 1, 2, 3 and 4 on its sides.
- A double handful of beads, buttons or coins is covered with a bowl.
- You place your bets on one or more positions.
- The bowl is lifted and the croupier removes the beads four at a time with a stick.
- The last batch holds one, two, three or four beads, and that number is the winning position.
A variant rolls dice and divides the total by four, and the remainder picks the position. In both versions the four outcomes are equally likely, 25% each.
The bets and their break-even payouts
| Bet | What you back | Chance | Break-even payout (arithmetic) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fan | One number | 25% | 3 to 1 |
| Kwok | Two adjacent numbers | 50% | 1 to 1 |
The break-even column is arithmetic, not a paytable: a bet that wins 1 time in 4 trades evenly at 3 to 1, and a bet that wins 1 time in 2 trades evenly at 1 to 1. Traditional tables also carry bets named Hong, Nim, Tan and Sheh Sam Hong, which back three numbers or add a push result, where your stake comes back. A table keeps its share by paying less than break-even or by taking a commission from each win, and its rules screen states which.
A worked example
Take a ₱100 stake, as an example, on the number 3 as a Fan bet. At the break-even payout of 3 to 1 a win returns ₱300 of winnings plus your ₱100 stake, and a loss costs the ₱100. If the rules screen showed a 5% commission on wins, chosen here only to show the sum, the same win would return ₱285. A bet unit meaning in plain words helps you keep each stake the same size across rounds.
Where it sits among other games
| Game | Chance of one chosen outcome | Decision after the bet |
|---|---|---|
| Fan Tan | 25% for one number | None |
| Red Dog | 8% to 88% by spread | Raise or call |
| Tong Its | Depends on the deal | Every discard |
Fan Tan is pure chance, with no decision after you place a bet. Compare it with Red Dog’s third-card payouts, where you decide whether to raise after seeing two cards, and with Tong Its melds and calls, where every discard is a choice. Lobby tabs and the search box show whether a Fan Tan title is listed, and its rules screen sets the bets and the payouts.
Play only if you are 21 or older.
Related guides
FAQ
What is the Fan Tan game?
A Chinese gambling game of pure chance. A heap of beads or buttons is counted off in fours, and players bet on whether 1, 2, 3 or 4 beads remain.
Is the Fan Tan game the same as the Pekwa card game?
No. The card game also called Fan Tan or Sevens is a shedding game where players build suit rows from the sevens. The casino game uses beads and betting only.
Magkano ang bayad sa Fan Tan?
A single number wins 1 time in 4, so 3 to 1 would be an even-money trade over time. Ang table ang nagtatakda ng aktwal na bayad at ng komisyon nito, kaya basahin ang rules screen ng bersyong nilalaro mo.
Can you improve your chance at Fan Tan?
No. Each of the four outcomes is equally likely, so no pattern in earlier counts changes the next one.