"We all like gambling," a young Chinese man said. However, different generations of Chinese have different gambling preferences, including games, habits and superstitions.
By Jui Ting Yu
04/23/10
Gambling is often considered a part of Chinese life, said Chien-Chi Huang, Asian Community Manager of the Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling. However, the gambling habits and styles of young Chinese people are different from those of elderly Chinese gamblers.
Huang said that gambling is a social or ritual activity among family members during the Chinese New Year when people get together. Gambling is seen as a way to celebrate the reunion. Unless people are addicted to gambling, gambling is not a negative thing in Chinese culture, Huang said.
A cashier at a lottery store next to the Downtown Crossing station, which is one of the most crowded stations in Boston, said that the store sells around 1,000 lottery scratch tickets per day. However, a cashier at the Chung Wah Hong Market in Chinatown, said that the store sells around 2,000 scratch tickets per day.
The cashier at Chung Wah Hong Market, who asked to remain anonymous, said that the lottery is very popular among Chinese people. "They [Chinese people] buy ten or more scratch tickets at one time." However, "most of our lottery customers are old Chinese people; young Chinese don't like to play the lottery," she explained.
The cashier said that young Chinese people tend not to buy lottery tickets; they think it is too risky. "They want to 'control' the game."
Ka Seng Lai, 22, a student from Macau, which is called the Las Vegas of the East, likes gambling and has participated in The Asia Pacific Poker Tournament twice. He said he buys lottery tickets sometimes just because he has some extra change and wants to spend it. "Playing scratch tickets is just hoping for luck. I don't like the uncertainty of scratch tickets," he said.
On the other hand, Ping Wang, 67, said that he spends around $20 per day on the lottery. "I spend money every day just hoping for some luck, I hope I will become a big-prize winner some day," Wang said.
The different attitudes towards gambling between young and old Chinese people are also reflected at the regional casinos.
Mohegan Sun, a resort casino in Connecticut, the closest casino to Boston, is one of the most popular casinos among Chinese people.
The Mohegan Sun even has more than 25-people working in an Asian marketing department which targets Asians for business. A Chinese man who works in the Asian marketing department and insisted on remain anonymous, said, "Almost everyone in the department can speak Mandarin or Cantonese."
Mohegan Sun offers Western games, including Texas Hold 'em and Black Jack, as well as Asian games such as Pai Gow Poker and a dice game called Sic Bo.
In addition to buying scratch tickets, Wang also likes to go to Mohegan Sun. He said that he and his friends, who are all in their 60's, like to play Sic Bo, which is a game of chance. "I've been playing Sic Bo since I was in China. I want to win money with good luck not with anything else." He said that he is too old to play games which require skill. "I go to the casino to relax, not for brain training."
However, for young Chinese people like Ka Seng Lai, luck is not enough. One reason, Lai said, is he is more Americanized than older Chinese people. "Asian games such as Sic Bo seem old-fashioned to me." Lai and his young Chinese friends like to play games using both skill and chance, such as Texas Hold 'em and Black Jack. He said that he is an experienced gambler who is in "control" of the game and that "observing other players' habits and reactions is the key."
Even if young Chinese people like games requiring skill, Chinese people, regardless of age, believe in luck when they are gambling, Lai said. However, they use different ways to encourage or protect their luck.
Lai said that most of the elderly Chinese gamblers go to casinos with a Gold Pixiu, a Chinese mythical creature considered to be a powerful protector of fortune. Young Chinese gamblers choose to "put anything red" on their body, including underwear. "Red means good luck in Chinese culture," Lai said.
Even though Chinese people believe in luck, they still lose money like everyone else.
Lai recently lost around $2,000 in one night. He blamed his loss on his bad luck. He said he is going to read a magazine about Feng Shui that he brought from Macau to figure out how to get his luck back.
Even though there are many differences between young and old Chinese gamblers, one similarity is that "they all like gambling", Lai said. "The gambling bug is in Chinese people's blood."
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