Greetings my fellow Nerds and Nerdettes; recently you may have seen an article I wrote on (Earth) Casinos and gaming due to the release of SPECTRE. Well, this got me thinking in that there have been a number of Sci Fi films and television shows that have depicted strange gambling and casino games.
Quark’s (above), the famous bar that resides on the promenade on Deep Space Nine (from television’s Star Trek Deep Space Nine), is THE place to be, where exotic drinks await and players can try their hand at the Dabo Wheel. Don’t worry if you don’t know the rules, one of Quark’s highly attractive Dabo Girls will gladly give you a hand and fortune is just a spin away. A roulette type game, players should be warned though that they must shout “Dabo!” when they win as it’s a local tradition held on the station. Rest assured the Dabo wheel is NOT rigged, as you wouldn’t want to cheat a drunken Klingon or Cardassian.
Perhaps if Dabo isn’t your game, you could persuade Quark to let you join his highly competitive Tongo Game. A combination of cards and roulette, this is for between two and eight players and prices could start from as little as a few slips to perhaps even bricks of gold pressed latinum, this could be a VERY expensive game indeed!
If roulette type casino games aren’t to your liking, then perhaps you should try your luck at card based games here. In the Colonial Fleet (Classic Battlestar Galactica or new BSG), simply walk into the flight officer quarters and you will most likely find a game of Pyramids happening. This card based game is similar to Earth Poker with various markings on the cards divided into three colours; Green, Purple and Orange. The game can will have several deals and can last for a few hours, or until your luck has gone. Due to local currency being devalued due to the Cylon annihilation of the home planets, Cubits (the common currency) have been devalued somewhat, so best bring something of worth to barter at the table.
Staying with cards, there is one card game that is popular with smugglers, rogues, criminal crime lords and played in probably every outer rim cantina this side of Mos Isley. The card game Sabaac (from the Star Wars universe) is another variation on Earth poker and features four suits (Sabers, Flasks, Coins, Staves) with each player betting on the hand they have against other players, with the winner taking the “pot”. This game has caused more than its fair share of fallouts from players seemingly pulling out an “impossible hand”, indeed the story of how Han Solo allegedly “cheated” Lando Calrissian and thus won the Millenium Falcon has gone down a in folk lore to all potential players of this game, so be warned!
So there you have it my fellow gamblers; if you ever want to sample any of these casino type games, pick a card or spin that wheel and may lady luck lightspeed her way to your fortune, or you may find yourself tossed out of the nearest air lock!
Of course, if trying to obtain passage to any of the above intergalactic destinations proves too challenging, you could always stick to Earth casinos and games.
Irwin Fletcher
I'm an LA journalist who really lives for his profession. I have also published work as Jane Doe in various mags and newspapers across the globe. I normally write articles that can cause trouble but now I write for FTN because Nerds are never angry, so I feel safe.
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