Chinese police have reported a sharp uptick in illegal gambling on a high-speed version of the classic tile game mahjong.
Officers in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, issued a public warning after swooping on 16 suspected gambling dens that specialized in the novel game, named zhuanzhuan mahjong.
Police said they arrested 204 suspected gamblers in the raids, as well as 21 suspected gambling den organizers, reported the Chinese media outlet Ningbo News Network.
“Some new illegal betting operators are now calling themselves ‘card game clubs’ or ‘social entertainment providers,’” said a Yinzhou District Public Security Bureau spokesperson. “They are using highly deceptive methods.”
The raids come weeks after a Chinese court warned of a rise in Go clubs that allow customers to bet on games if they pay club owners entry or commission fees.
All forms of gambling are illegal in China. The state makes an exception for government-run lotteries, which it classifies as a form of fundraising.
Yinzhou District officials estimate the den operators made 1.12 million yuan ($165,000) in profits.
Police say the operators instructed bettors to start with small stakes, gradually increasing them to nearly $100 per game.
Some 200 law enforcers took part in the raids, the bureau said.
Many of the dens operated in stores that advertised themselves as “just-for-fun” mahjong gaming clubs, where patrons could play the tile-based game while drinking tea and other beverages.
In fact, police said, the patrons were encouraged to play zhuanzhuan mahjong, a game usually associated with cash-based gambling.
High-Speed Mahjong Craze Sweeping China
Zhuanzhuan mahjong originated in China’s Hunan Province, some 1,000 km from Ningbo. Conventional mahjong uses a 136-144-tile set, featuring 108 tiles in three suits and two sets of honor tiles.
But the high-speed version of the game uses only the 108 suit tiles, allowing players to finish hands with breathtaking alacrity.
In zhuanzhuan mahjong gambling dens, bettors typically stake anything from 60 to 600 yuan ($9-$90) per hand. Winners scoop the pot, minus a “commission fee” payable to the den’s operator.
Police first became aware of the existence of zhuanzhuan mahjong betting rings in 2010, when they raided the backroom of a store in Hunan’s Shimen County. The owner, a court later heard, generated profits worth around 100,000 yuan, or almost $15,000.
Since then, the popularity of zhuanzhuan mahjong has grown consistently, with police discovering scores of betting rings in Hunan and beyond.
Hunan Crackdown
In February, police in Hunan arrested 16 people who were discovered playing a high-speed mahjong variation for stakes that rose to 500 yuan ($74) per game.
Police found three betting tables in an upstairs room of a shop in a vegetable market in the city of Zhangjiajie.
Officers said the shop owner took a 200 yuan ($30) cut per hand from each table.
Courts have shown organizers little in the way of clemency. District court judges have handed den owners jail terms of between one year and four years.
In all previous cases, courts have also transferred thousands of US dollars’ worth of gambling profits to the treasury.
