Joy for Some, Tragedy for Others : Gambling, Outlawed in China, Making Comeback

The young man boarded a long-distance bus at a village stop outside this South China city, sat down and flipped three cards onto an empty seat.

Two aces, one king. Face up, face down, left to right and back again. “Where’s the king?” he demanded. “Put your money down.”

The king’s position was obvious. A fool could win this game. Another young man--also in his early 20s, with a stylish wave in his hair--quickly tried.

The player pointed out his choice, then took out his wallet. As he looked away from the cards to pull out a 100-yuan bill, worth about $27, the dealer switched the chosen card with one next to it.

Half a dozen passengers saw the switch, but no one said a word. The victim lost his bet, nearly a month’s salary for a typical factory worker.

Gambling, outlawed since the 1949 Communist revolution, is making a comeback, enlivening life for those who enjoy playing with family and friends, bringing tragedy to those who lose big but cannot afford it and creating headaches for law enforcement.

The resurgence of gambling has followed a general loosening of social controls, the growth of a market economy and increased availability of consumer goods. More people have extra cash to risk at games of chance, winners have more ways to enjoy their windfalls and professional gamblers see chances to make money by cheating.

Canton and adjacent areas of southern Guangdong province, with a booming economy, a relaxed social atmosphere and proximity to the capitalist British colony of Hong Kong, have seen an especially strong growth of gambling in recent years. But the trend is nationwide.

635,000 Arrested

The Ministry of Public Security reported that 635,000 gamblers were arrested in China last year, making gambling the country’s most common crime. The number of gambling incidents handled by law enforcement officials jumped 24% over 1986, the ministry said.

“People now gamble in a bewildering variety of ways, ranging from dice, poker and billiards to sitting by the road and guessing whether the last digit on the number plate of an oncoming vehicle is odd or even,” the official New China News Agency recently reported.

New regulations strengthening controls on gambling have had the result that “gambling activities have become more covert,” the news agency added. “They are conducted in peasants’ homes located in remote mountainous areas, pigsties and credit cooperatives and even in homes of Communist Party members and cadres. Moreover, the stakes involved are getting larger all the time. Several thousand yuan per game is not uncommon, and in some cases it has reached 10,000 yuan ($2,700).”

The news agency reported that a farmer in Linkou County, in the northern province of Heilongjiang, “sold his 8-year-old daughter for 800 yuan ($216) after losing all his money gambling.”

“A certain Xu, 37, of Shanghai’s Baoshan County, committed suicide when he lost 1,300 yuan ($351) gambling,” the report added. “A young farmer in Wuwei County, Anhui Province, killed and robbed a barber after losing all his money in a gambling game.”

At a recent session of the National People’s Congress, China’s legislature, delegates from Tianjin complained that 25% of the city’s criminal cases involve gambling.

19,000 Get Leniency

Niu Ziwen, a Tianjin police officer who was a delegate, reported that in a March anti-gambling campaign, the city’s police shut down 1,000 gambling spots. More than 19,000 gamblers who confessed their activities were treated “leniently,” he said.

Under Chinese law, professional gamblers may be jailed for as long as three years, while ordinary players may be detained for up to 15 days, fined up to 3,000 yuan ($810) or sent to a labor reformatory. Those who confess and promise to stop gambling are often released without punishment.

Games of mah-jongg and cards are legal if they are not played for stakes. But it is not clear at what point putting down a bit of money on a game of chance with family or friends makes it illegal. Some Chinese believe that as long as the stakes are small and the game is played for fun with people who know one another, then it is not really gambling. In any case, this type of activity generally escapes the attention of authorities.

National Lottery

Also, despite its official anti-gambling policies, China has a national social welfare lottery that raises money for services to the handicapped, elderly, orphans and others in need. Lotteries of various types, many sponsored by stores and factories, multiplied in China for about six months in late 1984 and early 1985, but most were suddenly banned in March of 1985 in a drive against “unhealthy tendencies.”

Since then, lotteries have been strictly regulated, with permission to hold them usually granted only to charitable, art, literary or sports organizations. These lotteries are not officially considered to be a form of gambling, but rather are described as a way of collecting donations to worthy causes.

What authorities seem primarily concerned about is the growth of high-stakes gambling. Special attention has been paid to activities in public places in which unsuspecting victims are often cheated by professionals.

Run by Teams

The Workers’ Daily, in a report on street gambling, said that such games often are run by teams of three or four people, with one pretending to be a loser and the others winners, in order to lure onlookers into playing.

“The chance to win these games is actually only one in 1,000,” the newspaper told its readers. “Even if you win, other people will encourage you by shouting ‘Have another try!’ and then you will definitely lose. No one leaves without losing something.”

Early this year, the official People’s Daily reported that in Jiangsu province, an especially prosperous part of China, “gambling activities run rampant in 30% to 40% of all the towns and townships.”

“Because of the gambling,” the newspaper said, “cases of robbery, cheating, stealing, corruption and even murder increase dramatically in these places.”

More than 3,540 “women’s anti-gambling associations,” with more than 600,000 members, have been established in Jiangsu, according to this report. “The members of these associations always try to urge their husbands to give up the gambling addiction.”

Seen as Destructive

The growth of gambling is viewed by some officials as a destructive capitalistic influence that is one of the bad side-effects of China’s policies of market-oriented reforms and opening to the outside world.

Others blame a lack of alternative recreational activities.

Several National People’s Congress delegates recently expressed this view in a discussion reported by the New China News Agency.

Wei Li, a school principal, declared that “to forbid gambling is not enough” and that “more public utilities for entertainment must be built to enrich people’s lives.”

“People’s living conditions are better now but their cultural life still needs improving,” added Liu Hangying, another delegate. “There are not many public places to go for entertainment in the evening, nor is there much to watch on television.”

But when faced with the chance to gamble--and especially once caught up in the excitement of big-stake risks--many people simply find it hard to stay away.

Onlookers Remain Silent

The young man on the long-distance bus, for instance, persisted at the game even after losing that first 100 yuan. Cheated repeatedly with the same simple trick, he lost more than 500 yuan ($135). Other passengers, seeming to enjoy the spectacle, remained silent.

Finally, the dealer moved to another section of the bus. A young woman who had seen the first man lose his money felt she had a sure thing.

Carefully keeping her hand on the card she knew was the king, she put down the 100 yuan minimum bet.

There was a different trick this time. She was wrong.

Playing once more, she watched carefully and put down another 100 yuan. Wrong again. On the edge of panic, she removed cash from a different bag and kept on betting. Within 10 minutes she had lost about 700 yuan ($189)--several months’ wages--as well as a gold ring off her finger.

The bus pulled over to the side of the road. The card dealer stood up to leave. His first “victim” and two other young men left with him.

“They’re together!” exclaimed a passenger.

“They made a fool of you,” said another, as the young woman burst into tears.