This Is the Place for ‘Dead Man’s Hand’

Gamblers in a Manila suburb are using corpses to beat a Philippine law that bans gambling outside authorized places, a Manila newspaper reported Sunday.

Taking advantage of the Filipino custom of playing cards beside the coffin while the body lies in mourning, gambling operators in Mandaluyong district borrow corpses for a fee from hospitals and use them as props in mock wakes, the tabloid People’s Journal said.

Sometimes, it said, the mourners rent their corpses from funeral parlors. The fee for a borrowed corpse is about $25, the newspaper said.

Gambling in the Philippines is officially allowed only in licensed establishments such as casinos and at horse races, cockfights and jai alai games. Authorities turn a blind eye to gambling during household wakes out of respect for the dead.