Oicho-Kabu


Oicho-Kabu is a traditional Japanese card game that is similar to Baccarat. It is typically played with special kabufuda cards. A hanafuda deck can also be used, if the last two months are discarded. Oicho-Kabu means 8-9 and uses the Japanese kabufuda names for the numbers one to ten. As in baccarat, this game also has a dealer, whom the players try to beat.
The goal of the game is to reach 9. As in baccarat, the last digit of any total over 10 makes your hand: a 15 counts as 5, a 12 as 2, and a 20 as 0. Having two of the same card makes it the card number: a 10 and a 10 = 10, 1 and a 1 = 1.
The nickname for the worst hand in oicho-kabu—an eight, a nine and a three—is phonetically expressed as "ya-ku-za" and is the origin of the Japanese word for "gangster," yakuza.