Gambling in Buka Island Villages -the Rise of Housey-Housey
Patrick Nomos | 5/12/2018
Gambling for money using playing cards is a well established practice in Papua New Guinea (PNG) villages. In the early part of the 20th century, indentured labourers on large-scale copra and cocoa plantations were avid gamblers, and they brought the practice home with them when they returned to their villages.
Prior to PNG's independence the colonial administration tried to curb gambling by banning the importation and sale of playing cards, but with little or no effect. Gambling in Papua New Guinea is now controlled by the Papua New Guinea Gaming Board. However, enforcement of the Board's control measures doesn't typically extend to rural areas.
Card games such as "Lucky" and "Last Card" have been a feature of village life for many years. Store-keepers have profited from the sale of playing cards because losing players have established a "tradition" of destroying the pack of cards that brought about their loss, requiring them to immediately buy a new pack so that the game may continue without too much interruption.
In the past year, the reign of gambling with playing cards in Buka, Autonomous Region of Bougainville has been challenged by the introduction of "Housey-Housey", also known as "Bingo". This gambling game originated in Italy in the 16th century as "Lotto", variations of it becoming popular in France, Germany and England. During World War II it became popular with allied forces on leave in England, later spreading to America and then internationally. In PNG, for many years churches have used games of Housey-Housey to raise money for charity.
To play Housey-Housey, villagers pay as little as 50 toea each for ticket printed with 15 random numbers (1-99) on three rows and nine lines of squares. A "caller" draws numbered tiles from a box, each number being shouted to the players as it is drawn. If the called number is printed on a player's ticket, he or she strikes out that number using a ball-point pen (red is a favourite colour) until one player finally crosses all 15 numbers on the ticket, at which time he or she shouts, "Full House", and collects a prize. Prizes may be in the form of cash, frozen chickens, bags of rice or garden implements, such as a wheel-barrow. For valuable prizes such as a wheelbarrow, each ticket may cost as much as K20.
In early 2018 Housey-Housey was being openly played in Buka town, not for charity, but as a profit-making business for the games' operators. Large crowds of people regularly gathered in an open area near the Buka Passage to mark their Housey-Housey tickets in the hope of winning a cash prize. After a few months the Bougainville Police Service enforced a ban on these games in town, prompting the operators to relocate to villages, where Housey -Housey is now very popular.
In some Buka villages Housey-Housey games are played throughout each day of the week, from morning to late at night. Other villages restrict the playing of Housey-Housey to Saturday and Sunday nights. Because of its uncontrolled nature in some villages, children are involved, either as players or "callers". Theft of garden produce is rising because many players no longer tend their own food-crop gardens, leaving their families to forage for staple foods such as sweet potatoes and bananas.
In addition to the games' organisers, some enterprising individuals are profiting from Housey-Housey by selling scones, betel-nuts and raw peanuts to the players, who are unwilling to move from their favourite spots near the "caller". Although a few games of "Lucky" and "Last Card" are still played by their devotees, it seems that Housey-Housey has become established as Buka villagers' favourite gambling game.
Photo: Housey-Housey Ticket