What is Fan Tan?

Fan Tan is a Chinese betting game, now streamed by live studios, in which the dealer covers a heap of small beads with a bowl and then removes them four at a time. The bet is on the remainder: 1, 2, 3 or 4 beads left at the end. Nothing is drawn, guessed or played — the whole round is a count. The bet types are where the pricing sits. Fan backs a single number and pays 3 to 1 less a 5 percent commission on the win, which leaves a house edge of 3.75 percent. Kwok backs two numbers and pays even money less the same commission, for an edge of 2.5 percent. Nim backs two numbers with one to win and one to return the stake. Several tables add a group bet covering three numbers at a short price. Worked example: stake 10 on Fan. You win one round in four, and a win returns 30 less 1.5 commission, so four typical rounds stake 40 and return 38.50. The commission is the mechanism, and it is easy to miss because it is taken from the payout rather than shown as a fee. The exact bets, prices and commission rate are set out on the table's rules screen, and they differ between studios.