MA CHUCK. CHINESE GAME EXPLAINED.

THE GAMBLING CHARGES
Yesterday afternoon the hearing of thr charges of keeping a common gaming holier at 49. Hobson .Street, and° being found in a common house preferred against Wong Doo, was proceeded wit!] at the Police Court. There were 21 other Chinese charged with having I'ceii found in a common gaming house.
'•Mh Chuck," as explained by Mr. L. P. Leary. one of the counsel for the defence i~ a game alayed by four players. There are 136 pieces, four pieces of which are of the same kind, making altogether :<4 varieties. There are what might be described as three suits, runninjr from one to nine. The remaining seven am not suits, but four of them represent the four winds of heaven. The other three are honours" the white, green, and red. The object of the game ia to fill the hand with either runs of throe or sets of three or four of the fame kind. The player who by lot is decided to be the player in the East first draws his pieces from a square of seventeen in the side. The remainder draw in rotation until they get a hand of 1. Then the player "on" the East draws an odd one, which he either puts into hie hand or discards into the centre of the square, which is known as "Tho Sacred Valley/ This can be picked'up by any of the other players to make three or four, or by the next player to make a run. If it survives both of these fates, it becomes "dead." and lies on the table merely as an index as to what had not been collected.
The pieces are picked up by the players in rotation to improve their hands, and whilst the ostensible object of the pame is to make a full hand, the true object is to block th» other man from declaring his hand before you have gathered a strong hand yourself.
The explanation of a jrood deal of skill in the game, says Mr. Leary, lies in the scoring, because various 'hands score more than others, and therefore it pays to hold up the other man from scorina hy refusing to discard what you haye until your hand is a sufficiently strong one to disclose it and rake in a "substan tial stake. An expert player can, fiTfer tyro or three discards, tell to a nicety what the other three players are collecting, and sometimes hold back his diecards to prevent any other player getting in a position to declare his hanl This leads to a deadlock, and the game must be played again. The full game consists of each player getting his tally for one hand, and this means skilled players sometimes take as long as nine hours to work out.
Clement Ah Chee gave evidence tllat lie had played hiug gow at Hongkong., but not for money, and he had seen no petting o n this same. He considered it tc be a game of skill. Wong Doo stated that the premises *t 49, Hobson Street, were intended as a club far the mutual help of members. Mr. Shack Horn had said there was to be no gambling at the club, so about three weeks ago witness took away the dominot-5 and a set of ma chuck. The games seized at the time of the raid did not belong to liini or to the club, and he did not know that play was going on until he was summoned to the club on July IC, when he wont to discuss with Shack Horn the rule prohibiting games. The premises at 4!>, Hobson Street, were for a club, not a gaming house. In future all gambling -would be forbidden at the club.
t nder cross-examination by Chief Detective Mellveney, Wong Doo denied that he got more benefit from the club than anyone else did. He was only a member.
After further argument and evidence had been heard, Mr. Poynton, S.M., inspected the premises at' 49. Hobson Street. L-ater he announced that he would give a written decision on Friday. Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 180, 1 August 1922, Page 7