always wondered this.

[matteotm]

hi all,

just though somebody on here might know..

at my casino the vast majority of players are of an asian background..... and whenever something "unexpected happends" like for example you have 20 vs dealer 6 and he pulls 21.. etc etc ......the player will say

"ahhh yaaaaa" ......and over time......although im a not asian this is very catchy and now i do it all the time.. and even the deallers will say it... (sydney, australia) does this happen in vegas/the US

and 2) does any1 know exactly what this term/words mean?

i have heard so many differnt explanations i wont bother to list them all..

its funny when im playing heads up with an aussie dealer and i say it and they just give you a look like "wow you have been hanging around here too long" and by saying it....they automatically know you didnt just start playing yesterday.. LOL

i also heard it said by the asian lady on a recent UBT episode i saw on cable tv........ who always shouted "monkey" when wanting a picture card.. which i have heard mention on this forum.. i have never heard "monkey" at the table ........but they do use the word "POW" although simply "picture" is more common..

and what about this??? how many people.....hit the table every time they say picture......(sometimes hard)

that is another habit i have picked up..that is addictive

 

[ChefJJ]

I've definitely heard "monkey" for that...but I've personally used "face" from time to time. And, yes, a slap or fist tap on the table is common too.

good luck

 

[EasyRhino]

You *POW* as in John Madden, or POW as in Prisoner of War?

I was only just noticed "ai ya" this weekend. But I must confess I'm a fan of table slapping myself.

 

[Kaiser]

I was at a table once where a guy said "COME ON MONKEY!". We had a black dealer who stopped dealing right there and just stared at the guy, giving him the meanest look. He says in the lowest, meanest voice he could, "What the hell did you just call me?"

Table goes quiet. Guy gulps, has no idea what to say... then after what seemed like 5 minutes, the dealer busts out laughing his ass off. :laugh:

 

[matteotm]

pow is the word for picture but im not sure what language.. maybe viet

 

[Monkey!Boy]

Aiya!

I've heard all kinds of explanations for where 'Monkey!' comes from, but 'aiya!' is sort of an all-purpose Chinese exclamation for annoyance/frustration. One of my friends was briefly married to a Chinese woman and picked it up from her...

 

[Arctapodema]

like the chinese expression, the japanese for "no" is iie (pronounced ii-ye, or if said quickly could sound like "yay".)

Although I have plenty of stories of the asain persuasion, the funniest ive seen was an old asain man screaming "buuuuuuuusst!" everytime he had a bad hand. With his accent it made for a pretty hilarious session.

 

[bj bob]

hi all,

just though somebody on here might know..

at my casino the vast majority of players are of an asian background..... and whenever something "unexpected happends" like for example you have 20 vs dealer 6 and he pulls 21.. etc etc ......the player will say

"ahhh yaaaaa" ......and over time......although im a not asian this is very catchy and now i do it all the time.. and even the deallers will say it... (sydney, australia) does this happen in vegas/the US

and 2) does any1 know exactly what this term/words mean?

i have heard so many differnt explanations i wont bother to list them all..
i also heard it said by the asian lady on a recent UBT episode i saw on cable tv........ who always shouted "monkey" when wanting a picture card.. which i have heard mention on this forum.. i have never heard "monkey" at the table ........but they do use the word "POW" although simply "picture" is more common..

and what about this??? how many people.....hit the table every time they say picture......(sometimes hard)

that is another habit i have picked up..that is addictive

I have looked into this for you and now have the answers you are looking for.
I contacted one of my Chinese roommates from college and the expression Aiya! is very commonly used to express surprise as well as disgust,sort of like our term "holy S**t!". So, not unlikely that you'll hear it when someone busts or dealer pulls off a "miracle" catch. You'll also hear the same expression used if they see a gal bending over a crap table with a short skirt.
As far as "pow" goes, it is actually "Bow"(as in ship) and means litterally "explode" or in BJ terms "bust", so it does not necessarily mean TEN.
Finally, as to smacking the table, that's a habit carried over from tile pai gaw where the players hit the felt with their dominoes for luck.
As to being an Asian thing, probably not. Indians have there own mannerisms as well as the rest of Western Asia (Russians, Turks etc.) so it seems to be a more prevalant with the Orientals esp. the Chinese.

 

[GeorgeD]

I have looked into this for you and now have the answers you are looking for.
I contacted one of my Chinese roommates from college and the expression Aiya! is very commonly used to express surprise as well as disgust,sort of like our term "holy S**t!". So, not unlikely that you'll hear it when someone busts or dealer pulls off a "miracle" catch. .

I've heard this at a Canadian Casino where there are many Asian players. Recently a non-asian guy said "AIIIII YI YI" when he busted. I took it to mean something like "Oh Boy" or "holy s??t"

Now THAT'S something I can get behind. <sorry, couldn't help myself)