Weird Online Casino Games from Around the World

Gambling on the outcome of games is and always has been big business.  Right now, at hundreds of brick and mortar gaming halls and thousands of online and mobile casinos for South Africa - or all around the world for that matter - millions of dollars, pounds, euro, patacas, rupee and rands are being shelled out in the hope they’ll deliver big bucks returns. 

At Springbok casino punters from across the globe log in to enjoy an experience that’s fuelled by our 250 plus online casino games and the pay outs they can provide.  Real money betting options like roulette, baccarat, blackjack and poker have been modified to create an infinite array of supercool variants, all with the capabilities to make us a little wealthier.

Although classic table games, slots and video poker are standard fare at most casinos there are traditional betting games from Russia, China, Israel and India that have an enthusiastic following in their countries of origin.  Some are so popular they’ve been integrated into the action in Macau, Vladivostok, Riga and Bambolim.

Let’s take a closer look at a few traditional betting games that have made the great leap to land-based gambling salons, online casinos and mobile platforms like iOS and Android apps.  Before we highlight weird online casino games, here’s a disclaimer - ‘weird’ in this sense means unusual and not odd or bizarre!

Fan-Tan - China 

One of the online casino games to originate in ancient China is Fan-Tan, a game of chance that’s a firm favourite in today’s Macau.  It involves a banker, who places two handfuls of wooden playing pieces into a pot, and any number of players who bet on the probability of one of four outcomes.

Once the bets are made the pieces are placed in a pile on the table and the tan kun - the Chinese equivalent of a croupier - uses a slender bamboo stick to remove four pieces at a time.  The player or players who correctly predict the number of pieces left in the final batch - either one, two, three or four - are paid out at matching odds.

As with all online casino games, a percentage of the winnings goes to the house in the form of commission.  In Fan-Tan the house has been known to charge an outrageous comm of up to 25 percent!  

Compare that with the meagre amount we skim off the top at Springbok Casino and it’s little wonder Fan-Tan has failed to catch on much beyond Macau!

Jhandi Munda - India  

Jhandi Munda is a fast-paced dice game that’s revered in India.  It’s so popular a solo version of the game has been developed into an iOS and Android app.  It’s also a common feature at casinos in Goa and Sikkim and at big brand online casinos in India, together with another traditional betting game known as Teen Patti.

The game is played with six, six-sided dice and up to six players.  The punter who correctly predicts the symbol that appears on the most dice, wins.  

Once all the players have bet on either the heart, spade, diamond, club, face or flag symbol, the round starts with the host rolling all six dice.  If none or only one of the die show a symbol backed by a bet, the host wins all the bets. 

However, if two up to six of the dice display the same symbol backed by a player, the host has to pay the player up to six times the bet… and cough up the original wagers too.  This is clearly one of those online casino games where you really don’t want to be the host!  

Fortunately, our dice game at Springbok Casino is nothing remotely like Jhandi Munda.  If you fancy your chances of winning at Craps, you’ll find it listed under the ‘Speciality’ tab at the green and gold casino with South African flair!

Durak - Russia  

In terms of popularity Durak is to Russia what Texas Hold’em Poker is to the rest of the world.  It’s a simple card game that’s played with 32 cards and up to five players.  The aim of the game is to get rid of the cards in the hand as quickly as possible.  The player left with cards once the deck has been depleted is the Durak… which in English translates to fool!

The game starts with six cards being dealt to each player.  The card at the bottom of the pack is turned over to determine the trump suit, that’s the suit that ranks higher than all the others.  Players then place bets on their chances of shedding all their cards first.

The player with the lowest trump card is known as the attacker and leads the first trick.  The player on their left is the defender.  If the defender can defend the attacker’s trick by playing a card of higher value, they become the next attacker.

If they can’t defend the trick the attacker wins and they lose their turn.  The attack then passes to the player to the left of the defender and the second round gets underway.  The game ends when there are no more cards in the deck and the player who discarded all their cards quicker than any of the other players wins the pot. 

Does that sound as complicated to you as it does to me?  Why not check out the online casino games sorted under the ‘Table Games’ and ‘Video Poker’ tabs at Springbok online casino instead.  They’re a lot easier to play and the payouts are pretty impressive too!

Dreidel - Israel 

Dreidel is a traditional Jewish betting game that’s usually played over Hanukkah.  In recent times, it has taken on a more commercial allure in that real money has replaced the raisins, beans and nuts that were the original gaming chips.

Central to the game is a four-sided spinning top that has the Hebrew letters denoting four words printed on each side.  They are Nun which means nothing, Hei which means half, Gimel which means all and Shin which translates to ‘put in’.

Players then juice the pot with shekels in Israel, zloty in Poland or euro in Latvia and Estonia and each player has a turn to spin the top.  If the top stops spinning on Nun, the player gets nothing.  If Shin shows up, the player has to add to the pot but if Gimel or Hei turns up, the player gets all or half of the pot respectively!

Dreidel sounds remarkably like roulette and at Springbok Casino we have American and European Roulette amongst our collection of red-hot online casino games by RTG!  Do you want to exploit the best-ever betting games?  Register an account at Springbok today!