Jan 07 (newsonjapan.com) - Although online gambling is restricted across much of Asia, millions of people still find ways to play their favorite games.
Indeed no matter where you live, you’ll likely encounter lots of Asian-themed games at online casinos, evidencing the influence that the culture of this continent has over the market.
So which casino games are a hit with Asian online casino customers? Let’s go through a few of the top contenders.
Pachinko
One of the biggest bricks and mortar gambling games in Japan is also an unsurprisingly appealing prospect at online casinos.
When you have learned what is pachinko and how to play it, you’ll appreciate why it translates so well to a digital format. The simplicity and randomness of this ball-based game makes it very similar to Western-style slot machines in terms of its popularity and its accessibility.
Almost anyone can jump in and start enjoying online pachinko in a matter of moments, as it doesn’t require any real skill or strategy. It may not have much traction outside of Asia, but pachinko remains hugely relevant as an online pastime in this part of the world.
Mahjong
While it is not strictly a gambling game, mahjong has been adapted by online casino operators to serve this purpose, and so it is a consistently high ranking experience in terms of the sheer volume of people playing it at any one time.
The speed and convenience of playing online are two of the main selling points, since there is no need to manually manage the tiles. In fact this automation and ease of access is helping to perpetuate the success of mahjong among new generations of players who might not otherwise have picked it up.
Sic Bo
Dice games are big in the West, so it makes sense that they would also be a dominant form of online gambling in Asian nations as well.
While players from places like the UK and the US might play craps, the dice game of choice in the East is known as Sic Bo. It is also one of the most ancient examples of gambling, so its ability to thrive in the digital age is impressive.
Players roll a trio of dice and bet on the outcome, with all sorts of wagers possible to make. It is this variety and complexity that keeps things interesting round after round, whether online or in person.
Keno
The Asian equivalent of Western games like Bingo, Keno is another historically significant pastime which has made the leap to online casinos.
Players receive a virtual Keno card on which they can mark off numbers they want to select, out of a possible 80 or more. A draw then takes place, and those who get a match with a given proportion of the numbers chosen will win a prize.
Every online casino has its own variations on Keno available, as well as different payout proportions to keep in mind. This is not just a widely enjoyed online casino experience in Asia, but also in other places globally, because it closely resembles lotteries which are internationally understood.
Pai Gow
Like mahjong, this game makes use of tiles rather than playing cards, and the closest relation it has to a Western game is that of Baccarat. Points are scored based on pairs of tiles drawn, and myriad combinations are possible.
In an online casino context, there are some traditional versions of Pai Gow. However, more commonly it is interpreted as Pai Gow Poker, which implements a deck of cards instead and is more to the taste of modern audiences in Asia and elsewhere.
Fan-Tan
Fan-tan is a fan-tastically straightforward form of gambling that shares similar features to European roulette, albeit with very different apparatus involved.
In place of a ball landing randomly on a spinning wheel of numbers, Fan-Tan involves a collection of up to 200 different objects being distributed onto the playing surface, then filtered down by the dealer until a winning amount is arrived upon.
Online this works especially well, and it is sometimes made available as a live dealer game, with the results streamed to players courtesy of a flesh and blood croupier, rather than only being dealt with using algorithms and virtual graphics.
As you can tell, Asia’s appetite for online casino games is expansive, and these are just a few of the experiences available. As web-based gambling becomes more acceptable across the continent, tastes will no doubt be shaped over time.
