By Tom Spurling, Lonely Planet
Travel is all about taking chances: trusting strangers, fleeing the familiar, accepting a certain degree of risk. The road less travelled can be a hot streak waiting to unfold. So, here are a handful of exotic locales to take Lady Luck (to the cleaners). Just remember to quit while you’re ahead.
A visit to Bangkok just wouldn’t be the same without betting on the outcome of two men kicking each other repeatedly in the head. Image by Asanka Brendon Ratnayake / Lonely Planet Images / Getty Images
1. Fan-tan, Macau
Otherwise known as ‘Buttons’, this classic Chinese parlour game still draws crowds in the former Portuguese colony turned ‘Vegas of the East’, despite having disappeared from most official gambling dens around the world. Piles of white buttons are placed on the table then covered with cups by the dealer. Essentially each player has five choices: Fan, Nim, Kwok, Nga Tan or Sheh-Sam-Hu-Hong, in descending level of risk. If you hit the Fan (that’s three to one thank you very much), it’s time to hit the harbour.
2. Pachinko, Japan
Japan’s pachinko parlours are easily mistaken for video game arcades and were originally created as children’s toys. Inside red-eyed locals drop thousands of ball bearings into psychedelic pinball machines (or pachislo) and negotiate as many balls as possible through a maze of numbers and flashing lights. It’s too loud to hear yourself think, which is probably just as well because all you really think is, ‘what am I doing here?’ and ‘is that a good siren or are we under alien attack?’ Winners are given a ticket stub that is redeemed for a fluffy toy. At a nearby booth, a yakuza rookie then exchanges the toy for fistfuls of yen. It’s highly ridiculous but highly addictive.
3. Two-up, Outback Oz
There’s a scene in an infamous old Aussie horror movie, Wake in Fright, where a young schoolteacher loses his month’s salary – and his sanity – on this simple game of chance. These days it’s only legally tolerated on Australia Day (26 January) when the ‘spinner’ tosses two coins in a circle and beer-soaked punters scream ‘odds’ or ‘evens’. If you win, there’s always ‘double or nothing’. Then it’s definitely your shout for the schooners.
4. 30 & 40 (Trente et Quarante), Monte Carlo
This 17th-century French card game is peculiar and classy, and almost strictly played in Monte Carlo. Also known as ‘rouge et noir’, its rules are clear enough: total your row of cards above 30 without breaking 40 and hope the dealer can’t top your score. To get your head around the betting systems though, you may need a firmly shaken martini and a specialist in tax havens to fund your easily made faux pas. The golden rule of this game, like on any jaunt along the French Riviera, is to always take insurance.
5. Muay Thai, Bangkok
In an era of oiled-up Ultimate Fighters grappling in cages in their jockstraps, authentic Muay Thai kickboxing looks all the more hardcore. An honest night out in Bangkok can feel limp without witnessing the thrill of foot on jaw. Betting is supposed to be illegal here, but it’s easy to find action in the big stadium events. Follow the wads of baht and choose either blue shorts or red shorts. Hot tip: back a tall Russian, or anyone who looks like Tony Jaa.
Read the full article by Tom Spurling from Lonely Planet.
