Chapter 25 - What is Dabo? (Patreon)

Quark's Bar. Deep Space Nine.

The sounds of a spinning dabo wheel filled the air in Quark’s bar. It was a pleasant sound for most humanoids and I found myself wondering if the Ferengi had chosen it in the same way the sounds commonly associated with slot machines had been chosen in Vegas on my world.

Dabo, itself, was a roulette-style game of chance developed by the Ferengi in the 23th century and was the gambling game of choice in Quark's Bar on Deep Space Nine. When one won, it was customary to shout "Dabo!" thereby creating a communal sense of victory and driving up interest in the game by giving the impression that they too could win big. The odds, of course, favored the house, but not as heavily as you might expect for a game developed by the Ferengi.