Pakapoo (; sometimes spelt pak-ah-pu or Pák Kòp Piú) is a Chinese lottery game popular in Oceania in the 19th century, including on the Victorian Goldfields.[1]
A pakapoo ticket is bought, which contains rows of characters from the Thousand Character Classic, an ancient poem in which no two words are repeated. The master ticket is kept hidden and is marked by the organiser of the game. The player marks a number of characters on their ticket. The ticket closest to the master ticket wins.[2]
A 1921 article in The Argus in Melbourne, Australia, described the game in detail:
In Australian slang, "It looks like a Pakapoo ticket" is a reference to any writing that is messy or scrawled.[3]