Fan-Tan, or fantan (literally "repeated divisions")'s a form of gambling long played in China. It's similarities to roulette. History Fan-tan's no longer as popular as it once was, having been replaced by modern casino games, and other traditional Chinese games such as Mah Jong and Pai Gow. However, it was once a favorite pastime of the Chinese in America. Jacob Riis, in his famous book about the underbelly of New York, How the Other Half Lives (1890), wrote of entering a Chinatown fan-tan parlo… (More on Fan-tan)