Do you have this practice of gambling during one's wake

[coin-investor]

This is legal in our country provided that you ask permission from authorities, they allow gambling like card games and color games they allocate a fee, or what we call in our country a "tong" for the family of the bereaved so they can cover the expenses of the family during their hard times.
Do you have a similar practice in your country and is this legal in your country?

I often play games during the wake to keep up with friends and relatives of the bereaved this is to sympathize with the family, these are friendly games and the tong will help the family, it's been with this tradition ever since in our country, and I believe it will keep on as long as there are families who need to cover expenses of the family's who are left.

[Yatsan]

I am familiar with this tradition and when I was a kid I do really thought that it is a bad thing and that people should focus more with the mourn and not with activities involving money or gambling to be more specific. As I grow up and learned that it is helping the family in the wake, and yes financially. It also adds "bond" to people who attended the wake in some ways. But there are people who are not having the intention to mourn; they're only visiting the wake because of these activities. Is it a bad thing? Morally, yes however no matter how we look at it, it is indeed legal and with approval from the family of the wake.

Gambling activities are often card games such as poker and a game 'bingo' if others are familiar with it. In my perspective, such activities also help to have people awake over the night to have things on watch, which is just one of the benefit of it. People may view it negatively but culture is behind this.

[Lorence.xD]

In my perspective, such activities also help to have people awake over the night to have things on watch, which is just one of the benefit of it. People may view it negatively but culture is behind this.

I don't personally participate with gambling activities during a wake. The practice in my family is to use the moment to have talks with the relatives who are most of the time away. But there are indeed different practices. I even witnessed some families who are having kareoke or singing activities during a wake and for them it is just to make things lively, as their way of reminiscing the one who passed away. But I agree, gambling activities could be a part of a family practice or culture, it just depends on how it will be done or the purpose behind it. Gambling in the first place is an activity for entertainment and the involvement of money just adds intensity and thrill with the outcomes. And with negative impressions, it depends with gambler's intention.  As long as it is legal to what country it is being performed then things would be fine. If gamblers who will practice such activities in any ocassions would be doing it with sense of responsibility, it will be acceptable morally and socially.

[0t3p0t]

This is legal in our country provided that you ask permission from authorities, they allow gambling like card games and color games they allocate a fee, or what we call in our country a "tong" for the family of the bereaved so they can cover the expenses of the family during their hard times.
Do you have a similar practice in your country and is this legal in your country?

I often play games during the wake to keep up with friends and relatives of the bereaved this is to sympathize with the family, these are friendly games and the tong will help the family, it's been with this tradition ever since in our country, and I believe it will keep on as long as there are families who need to cover expenses of the family's who are left.

This is so familiar to me and I think we are on the same country as well. Common way to gamble during a wake is cara y cruz, card games, mahjong, chess and bingo here in my place. This actually varies from place to place depending on the availability of the games and or the bankers who will initiate the gambling but yeah this is legal in our country.

[STT]

Sounds very quaint and traditional, I like the idea of a poker game with all the friends and relatives of the dead as a bonding thing.  Better then most wakes in the west where its always too formal.

I would like to adopt such a tradition or specify it in a will.    The license part is specific to a country we don't have that here but it could be done informally and/or by honor code especially across friends; anything similar here would be charity based or via the Church in some way which has a charity status legally.    This has been done many times but in this case the organization is via community and independent of any one family so quite different I suppose.

[electronicash]

not sure also whether we have a similar culture with other countries regarding this but probably the Latinos or the Hawaiians.

it's the easiest to learn when you are just 15 years old. a friend died of an overdose, his family owns a pharmacy.
i remember my first table card game at a friend's wake where a crowd surrounds the table while gamblers watch over my cards. those guys are going to look at how good you are at arranging cards in a game called "chikicha". 3 cards as head, then 5 cards as the body, and 5 below. i'm not sure what others call this game though.

[Porfirii]

This is legal in our country provided that you ask permission from authorities, they allow gambling like card games and color games they allocate a fee, or what we call in our country a "tong" for the family of the bereaved so they can cover the expenses of the family during their hard times.
Do you have a similar practice in your country and is this legal in your country?

I often play games during the wake to keep up with friends and relatives of the bereaved this is to sympathize with the family, these are friendly games and the tong will help the family, it's been with this tradition ever since in our country, and I believe it will keep on as long as there are families who need to cover expenses of the family's who are left.

This is so familiar to me and I think we are on the same country as well. Common way to gamble during a wake is cara y cruz, card games, mahjong, chess and bingo here in my place. This actually varies from place to place depending on the availability of the games and or the bankers who will initiate the gambling but yeah this is legal in our country.

¿Cara y/o Cruz? Are you talking about Spain or Latin America? As I understand, this practice during the wake seems to be more common in Filipinas, Indonesia... but the name of the game you mentioned is in Spanish (isn't it "head or tails", or simply coin flip in English?), so I'm curious where are you writing for.

At least in Spain I have never heard about similar practice during the mourn (I have to confess that, fortunately, I have never been in one) so, as you all said, it seems something more cultural from certain regions than a general practice in different countries.

[uneng]

not sure also whether we have a similar culture with other countries regarding this but probably the Latinos or the Hawaiians.

I live in Latin America, and it's not a common practice in the country where I live. Actually, I didn't even know people do this kind of thing, so it sounded really strange and uncommon to me, as something inappropriate for a situation where everyone adopts a formal stance towards each other, where people don't joke around, neither speak too loud, express joy or laugh. Wakes are very introspective occasions, where it seems each person reserves their time to reflect deeply and pay tribute silently to the person who has left us. In our culture, and western cultures in general, I think the least thing someone would think in a moment like that would be to gamble.

Death is a taboo in western cultures: a moment of sadness and despair in many cases, while gambling is related to joyness, excitement, leisure and pleasure. Therefore, people don't mix both.

[coin-investor]

not sure also whether we have a similar culture with other countries regarding this but probably the Latinos or the Hawaiians.

I live in Latin America, and it's not a common practice in the country where I live. Actually, I didn't even know people do this kind of thing, so it sounded really strange and uncommon to me, as something inappropriate for a situation where everyone adopts a formal stance towards each other, where people don't joke around, neither speak too loud, express joy or laugh. Wakes are very introspective occasions, where it seems each person reserves their time to reflect deeply and pay tribute silently to the person who has left us. In our culture, and western cultures in general, I think the least thing someone would think in a moment like that would be to gamble.

Death is a taboo in western cultures: a moment of sadness and despair in many cases, while gambling is related to joyness, excitement, leisure and pleasure. Therefore, people don't mix both.

It depends on the culture and the tradition this is normal for us I have stated in this thread that we do this to sympathize and to be with the family for the whole night, it's not like a fiesta celebration we do the gambling outside of the house while the family and those who want to sympathize are are inside the house, we usually have a tent outside of the house this is where people gamble and talks or just want to be in the premises.
But on the day of the burial, everything is solemn and full of sadness and sympathy for the family.
I guess we all have traditions that are very different from other countries when it comes to gambling and how they do it.

[robelneo]

Yeah I just happened to pass by on one's wake with people doing cards, it's pretty normal in our country it's a way to stay awake and bear with the family throughout the whole night and since gambling is legal in my country they do this and part of the profit go to the family, its family tradition, majority of the family have done this and the authorities do not forbid or restrict this tradition.
Although gambling and its legal people are not here to make money but to condole with the family it's part of the tradition that will linger on as long as no law forbids this tradition.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

This is legal in our country provided that you ask permission from authorities, they allow gambling like card games and color games they allocate a fee, or what we call in our country a "tong" for the family of the bereaved so they can cover the expenses of the family during their hard times.
Do you have a similar practice in your country and is this legal in your country?

I often play games during the wake to keep up with friends and relatives of the bereaved this is to sympathize with the family, these are friendly games and the tong will help the family, it's been with this tradition ever since in our country, and I believe it will keep on as long as there are families who need to cover expenses of the family's who are left.

Well, I don't know the part of the world you are from but I think this is the freakiest thing I've read on the internet today.
Now, don't misunderstand or misquote me, I absolutely and completely respect your tradition, but then, also understand that such thing as gambling in a dead person's wake-keeping when the family of such person are morning their lost loved one, would for sure; appear or sound really inhuman for some of us who are not used to such tradition and possibly learning about this for the first time.

And I still find something confusing which I wanna ask, you said this games are played as a way to assist the bereaved family with some the expenses involved with laying their dead to rest, how is this done exactly, is it that the players of this games donate every of their winnings to the bereaved family as a way of supporting them?
Sorry if my question sounds too lame, I completely didn't get that part you said the game are meant to support the morning family, so, I am honestly trying to understand how this is done.

[Wapfika]

Do you have a similar practice in your country and is this legal in your country?

I often play games during the wake to keep up with friends and relatives of the bereaved this is to sympathize with the family, these are friendly games and the tong will help the family, it's been with this tradition ever since in our country, and I believe it will keep on as long as there are families who need to cover expenses of the family's who are left.

We share same culture probably we are in same country. The only time I participate on this kind of gambling games is on game called “tirimbi” or a version roulette like game but doesn’t have a roulette but rather winner is drawn using piece of paper rolled in the box. The payout system and betting type is just like roulette that’s why I compared it to that game despite without the real roulette involved. This game is played by many at the same time which is why I can place some bet for fun because my identity of betting is not that exposed.

Gambling in our country is not that widely accepted that’s why I never play card games in public like wake of relatives since I will receive criticism from my family or close relatives.

[electronicash]

not sure also whether we have a similar culture with other countries regarding this but probably the Latinos or the Hawaiians.

I live in Latin America, and it's not a common practice in the country where I live. Actually, I didn't even know people do this kind of thing, so it sounded really strange and uncommon to me, as something inappropriate for a situation where everyone adopts a formal stance towards each other, where people don't joke around, neither speak too loud, express joy or laugh. Wakes are very introspective occasions, where it seems each person reserves their time to reflect deeply and pay tribute silently to the person who has left us. In our culture, and western cultures in general, I think the least thing someone would think in a moment like that would be to gamble.

Death is a taboo in western cultures: a moment of sadness and despair in many cases, while gambling is related to joyness, excitement, leisure and pleasure. Therefore, people don't mix both.

sorry to assume we have a similar tradition about death. i was just comparing cultures since our countries were under Spanish for centuries and we adopted some of theirs. while we also associate death with sadness and despair, we gamble in the wake for the people who attend the wake will last til morning and at the same time it generates funds for the family.

we do sympathize with the family of the dead. by attending his wake, is enough of a message that a person remembers when he was still alive.

[alani123]

Over here in Greece gambling is considered a serious sin by the church and given that mourning the dead is closely associated with religious practices, there is no tradition to gamble in mourning.

However there is also different cultures for different people. Not everyone is religious, but the issue here is if the deceased person also liked something, then his friends could create an event recreating a schene in his memory to pay respects. I have seen this quite frequently in African American culture for instance.

[mirakal]

Yeah I just happened to pass by on one's wake with people doing cards, it's pretty normal in our country it's a way to stay awake and bear with the family throughout the whole night and since gambling is legal in my country they do this and part of the profit go to the family, its family tradition, majority of the family have done this and the authorities do not forbid or restrict this tradition.
Although gambling and its legal people are not here to make money but to condole with the family it's part of the tradition that will linger on as long as no law forbids this tradition.

This is also very common in my area. You will know eventually that there’s a wake when you see a long table outside the house that is used for gambling. I don’t know actually if the family of the deceased will still ask permission before allowing gambling, because I think gambling is already part of the tradition everytime there is a funeral reception. With that, the family will no longer mind who will watch over the body of the deceased since those close family and friends will be present from night to morning while gambling. I don’t know if other countries adapt the same tradition but if all countries will adapt this, the family of the deceased will be very thankful because the more gamblers will come, the bigger the tong will be which is a very big help already to the family of the wake.

[FinePoine0]

I am basically familiar with playing cards and I love to play it. Although in our society it is illegal but more preferred to play cards through money in night shelter. I've lost a lot of money getting addicted, but now it's widely known. Generally gambling is a game that gamblers will definitely love to play and has various attractive offers.

[danherbias07]

I am from the Philippines but my family believes in a peaceful wake. So, my grandfather's wake was held in a chapel where relatives could go and just talk about things, chat, and have some little food.
But I do know about the gambling practices during one's wake which is most of the time held in the streets.
I played both card games and the "sakla" which is one of my favorite games although it's difficult to win because of the broad number of picks. I just love the way the dealer presents the card where there is almost like a drum roll every time he shows the next card. But, I have never seen a color game in a wake, most of the time only those two games, cards and "Sakla" or sometimes they play bingo especially if there are lots of women in the place.
It's understandable especially if the death was a surprise and the family was not prepared for whoever died, it's like a donation but in terms of people gambling in their place. This was a tradition so it will be difficult to just remove it, especially with lots of poor families here in our country.

[Hatchy]

I often play games during the wake to keep up with friends and relatives of the bereaved this is to sympathize with the family, these are friendly games and the tong will help the family, it's been with this tradition ever since in our country, and I believe it will keep on as long as there are families who need to cover expenses of the family's who are left.

Well that's my first time hearing about such thing in the world of gambling. I'm still doing my research about it and from the little I could gather, I really haven't heard of it in my country. If it were that popular, maybe it would be common amongst people in my country. Though it sounds like a nice Initiative to help the bereaved and provide them with little you can through gambling.

But not all countries will accept such practice. If an individual wishes to give money out to the bereaved then he should do it willingly and not through gambling.

[Slow death]

This is the first time I've heard that there are people who participate in gambling at funerals. Here in my country I don't know if they do this kind of thing because I only went to one funeral, and at the funeral I went to I didn't see this kind of thing, but reading this thread and now that I know that this kind of thing exists , I'm wondering how people can concentrate when they play at a wake, because normally at wakes people are very sad, other people are crying, so I can't see this very sad scenario as being a good scenario to play, I wonder how people people react when they lose, because I really doubt that when they lose they celebrate defeat, so I suppose that when they lose they are sad because they lost money and that sadness of theirs will be seen by other people and as a consequence the sadness will spread

Many people who go to the wake cannot understand what is really happening during the wake, this is because those people who are attending the wake are not the ones who lost someone, which is why they do not understand the pain that is being felt that day. Even if they said that the money collected would be given for the funeral, honestly wouldn't it be easier for people, instead of playing, to take the money and donate it to the family that lost someone? because it seems to me that this would be a better option than people playing games at the wake, because there's no point in laughing during the wake and then crying. Sometimes the best way to solve a problem is to face the problem head on and not hide. If the person is sad, wants to cry at the funeral, then that person should cry and not laugh to pretend that they are fine when they are not fine

[Gozie51]

I often play games during the wake to keep up with friends and relatives of the bereaved this is to sympathize with the family, these are friendly games and the tong will help the family, it's been with this tradition ever since in our country, and I believe it will keep on as long as there are families who need to cover expenses of the family's who are left.

Talking about covering of expenses, is it that the wake keep game or gambling is meant to raise money for the bereaved family to sort their bills or what is it for?

This kind of gambling is still new to me and what I know about wake keep and burial is that the family take care of the expenses and the running cost till the days of the burial is over and what support given by friends and well wishers are not mandatory but an act of benevolence, solidarity and conscience.