WHAT THE F*@K?!?
perper | 04 April, 2005 11:36
Last October 3, me and a couple of church friends got together in a
house to celebrate one of the important Chinese events of the year,
which is the Mid-Autumn Festival (Tiong Chiu Tsue, sometimes called the
Mooncake Festival). As part of the Mid-Autumn tradition, we played the
Dice Game.
To those unfamiliar with the Mid-Autumn Fesitval Dice Game, it is a
game commonly played by most Chinese here in the Philippines (I dunno
about Chinese in other countries) in celebration of the Mid-Autumn
Festival. The game requires six dices and a bowl. A player takes the
dice and throws them into the bowl, which may or may not produce a
combination. If the throw produces a combination, then the person wins
the prize that corresponds to the combination produced by his/her throw.
Different combinations correspond to different prizes. A throw With one
dice of four wins you the Xiucai prize. A throw with two dices of four
wins you the Juren prize. A throw with four dices of the same number
except four wins the Jinshi prize. Three dices of four wins you the
Tanhua prize. A throw with six dices of one to six or any three sets of
two consecutive numbers (i.e. three 1's and three 2's) wins you the
Bangyan prize. And if you get four or more dices of four, or five or
more dices of one, you will win the Zhuangyuan prize! If more than one
person produces a Zhungyuan combination, the one who threw the higher
combination will win the Zhungyuan prize.
Also, a combination of six dices of four or one wins you all the prizes
left on the table AND all the prizes that everybody has won so far in
the game. However, this rule is sometimes disregarded so to ensure that
everybody will get to bring home something, just in case somebody does
defy the impossible odds and throw a combination like that.
Below is an illustration of the different combinations of the Dice Game.
Now during the game, I was having such a rotten luck. After more than 6
rounds, the only thing I have won so far were a bag of Cheetos, a
Kitkat chocolate bar, and 2 small packs of Oreo cookies. I've always
considered myself unlucky in any game of chance so I wasn't really
feeling too bad that I wasn't winning anything in the Dice Game. I just
had to endure the ribbing of my friends regarding my sour fortunes.
At around the 8th or 9th round, two people (Lloyd and Lowell) had
already thrown Zhungyuan combinations, with Lowell throwing the higher
combination. And because the game wasn't finished (there were still
prizes to be won), he couldn't claim the Zhungyuan prize yet. Everybody
was still allowed to throw dices, which meant that there was still a
possibility that somebody will throw a higher Zhungyuan combination. He
had to wait until the game ended and wish that nobody throws a
Zhungyuan combination higher than his. But it looked as if he was going
to win the top prize, as the combination he threw was a pretty high one
(I forgot what it was).
Anyway, when it was my turn already to throw in that round, I was
joking with my friends, telling them to go home already because I was
going to throw a combination that is going to win the top prize. Of
course I didn't believe what I was saying, because I had been having
such a rotten luck.
So there I was, shaking the dices in my hands. I'm not sure exactly
what I did, but I do remember shaking the dices a little bit longer
that time. Then I opened my hands and let the dices out into the bowl.
Below is the result of my throw.
Don't believe that I really threw that combination? See below.
HOLY GUACAMOLE!!!
My gosh! What are the odds of throwing 6 dices and all of them ending
up as one? 0.002%, or 1 in 50,000!!! That means I have to throw 50,000
times in order to produce, for just one time, six dices of ones!!!
PHEW!
I guess God is indeed fair. All my 23 years of bad luck, He has
compensated me by allowing me to produce this ghad-darned,
almost-impossible-that-it-is-almost-a-miracle phenomenon.
You can't believe it? Well I also couldn't believe it myself! But I got
the evidence sitting inside my room, which is a cute, electric blue
bean bag!
Wheeeee!!!
Now all I got to win is a TV, and I'll be all set.
I hope I didn't use all my luck in the Dice Game.
Ahh well!
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