Fan Tan Nim bets: why 1 Nim 2 and 2 Nim 1 do not pay the same

In the Fan Tan rules used here, the first number on a Nim bet wins, while the second number returns the stake without profit. A 1 Nim 2 stake therefore wins on result 1 and pushes on result 2. Reverse the order to 2 Nim 1 and those two outcomes reverse too. A Kwok 1–2 stake is different again: either 1 or 2 wins, but at a lower profit rate.

That distinction explains why two accepted bets displaying the same pair of numbers can settle differently. For the named Evolution rules, a winning Nim bet pays 1.90:1 profit, whereas a winning Kwok bet pays 0.95:1. The original winning stake comes back in addition to that profit. A Nim push only gives the original stake back.

This Dubai7 guide follows the Fan Tan section of Evolution’s published v2.7.4 rulebook. The bead counts and 20-unit accounts below are our own teaching examples. They explain those written rules, rather than confirming a current table, screen layout or game availability at our registration destination.

First establish the bead result: a last group of four is result 4

Fan Tan does not use the sum of dice or a roulette number. In this version, beads selected with a cup are sorted into rows of four. The final row contains between one and four beads, and that count is the round’s result. Only the selected beads belong to that round; the size of the remaining pile is not added to the result.

The divisible-by-four case can be confusing if you calculate a remainder on a phone. For 16 selected beads, four complete rows of four can be formed. The last row is still four beads, so the displayed result is 4, not a fifth possible result called 0. For 17 selected beads, the final row instead contains one.

You do not have to predict the exact selected count to read the settlement. Once the final result is established as 1, 2, 3 or 4, compare it with the accepted bet’s winning and pushing numbers. Do not turn a final row of four into a loss or a refund just because a calculator’s remainder is zero.

The order of the two Nim numbers is part of the bet

For 1 Nim 2, read the label as “1 wins; 2 pushes.” For 2 Nim 1, read it as “2 wins; 1 pushes.” The rulebook names the first displayed number as the winning result and the last displayed number as the push result. It does not treat the two labels as interchangeable versions of the same two-number win bet.

This table covers all four results. If you accepted only 1 Nim 2 and the result is 2, you have not won a 1.90:1 prize. You have reached that bet’s stated push condition. The fact that a separate 2 Nim 1 spot would have won does not change the bet you actually placed.

The direction also matters when reading a cropped bet history. A note saying only “Nim 1 and 2” leaves out which number was listed first. To reconstruct the payout, you need the full accepted label or another record that preserves its winning number and its pushing number.

A 20-unit win returns 58; a 20-unit push returns 20

Use a single accepted stake of 20 on 1 Nim 2, with no additional wagers or other transactions. At a 1.90:1 profit rate, a win earns 20 × 1.90 = 38 profit. Add the original 20 once, and the total returned is 58.

Suppose the balance starts at 100. Accepting the 20 stake leaves 80. If the final result is 1, adding the 58 return leaves 138. If the result is 2, adding the 20 push leaves 100. A push is not a second payment on top of the original balance; it restores the stake already deducted.

Similarly, 58 is the total return, not 58 profit. Adding the stake again would incorrectly turn the winning balance into 158. If an interface uses a label such as “win,” check whether that field includes the stake before comparing it with a profit figure.

Kwok 1–2 wins on both numbers, with a different rate

Kwok 1–2 has no winning-versus-pushing order between 1 and 2 in this rulebook. Both numbers are winning results. A 20 stake at the listed 0.95:1 profit rate earns 19 profit and returns 39 in total when either of them occurs. Results 3 and 4 lose that stake.

The first two rows show the trade-off without a prediction. On result 1, this Nim stake earns more. On result 2, Kwok earns a profit while this Nim stake only pushes. That is a comparison of specified results, not evidence that either choice is certain to improve a session’s balance.

Do not apply the Nim 1.90:1 rate to a Kwok win simply because both labels mention 1 and 2. The bet type determines the conditions and payout together. Our figures use the exact schedule above; another version requires its own definitions and rates.

Two opposite Nim stakes require two stakes in the account

Now change the example: accept 20 on 1 Nim 2 and another 20 on 2 Nim 1 in the same round. The combined cost is 40. On result 1, the first returns 58 and the second pushes for 20, giving 78 returned and a net gain of 38. On result 2, the identities swap, but the combined return is again 78.

On result 3 or 4, both stakes lose, so the combined return is zero and the net result is −40. There is no automatic push on one of the two simply because their winning and pushing numbers are reversed. Neither label contains 3 or 4 as its pushing number.

With a starting balance of 100, accepting both stakes leaves 60. A result of 1 then adds 78 and ends at 138; a result of 3 leaves 60. Counting only the winning stake’s profit while overlooking the second accepted stake would give an incomplete account.

This explains two-bet settlement, not a suggestion to combine wagers. The extra stake increases the amount that can be lost when the result falls outside both selected numbers.

Where Nim and Kwok appear in the cited rules

The rulebook distinguishes a default view from an advanced view. Nim and Kwok are among its advanced-view bet types; default-view bets include single numbers, Big/Small and Odd/Even. A list of only default-view bets is therefore not enough to establish the definition of a Nim wager.

The same document says a player can switch from default to advanced during any game phase. Returning from advanced to default has a condition: there must be no bets, or the existing bets must be only on spots also available in the default view. A pending Nim bet is not one of those shared default-view spots.

These are the published version’s view rules. They are not instructions to press an unverified button on a different platform. Changing a view also does not convert an already accepted Nim wager into a Kwok wager or change which result pushes.

Common questions

If I reverse 1 Nim 2 after the result, can I receive the winning payout?

The account is determined by the accepted bet and final result. Our comparison does not describe a right to change that accepted bet after seeing the beads. A history entry for 1 Nim 2 on result 2 is a push under the cited rules, even though a different 2 Nim 1 wager would have won.

Does “1.90” mean a 20 stake returns only 38?

Not in this rulebook. It specifies that the stake is returned on top of winnings. The 38 is profit, and 58 is the total return for a winning 20 stake. A push returns just 20, and a losing stake returns zero.

Does a zero calculator remainder mean the round should be void?

No such conclusion follows. The game’s final row is expressed as 1–4 beads, so a positive count divisible by four gives result 4 in these examples. The document separately says a malfunction voids the round and returns bets; divisibility by four is not that malfunction rule.

Can I use the four possible results as proof that each has a 25% chance?

Not from this explanation alone. Listing the possible results establishes settlement branches, not the probability distribution of the cup’s selected count. This article does not assume equal result frequencies or derive an RTP from that unverified assumption.

Rules and payout definitions come from Evolution’s published Fan Tan rules, physical PDF pages 180–183. Dubai7’s count examples, balance accounts and diagram explain those conditions; the illustration is not a real table screenshot.