As Chinese New Year approaches, 2024 is the Year of the Dragon - we look at China's most popular gambling games.
Chinese New Year 2024 falls on Saturday, the 10th of February this year, and celebrations culminate with the Lantern Festival on February 24th, 2024.
Celebrations last up to 16 days, with the first 7 days considered a holiday. Chinese New Year marks the transition between the zodiac signs. 2023 was the Year of the Rabbit, and 2024 is the Year of the Dragon .
Chinese Gambling Community
Gambling is extremely popular across China , not only in the online casino sphere but in land-based gambling establishments as well.
Occupying a large percentage of the world’s population, China makes for the world’s largest gambling community. Whilst the country is a follower rather than a leader within the iGaming world, it is progressing quickly, replacing the old with the new.
Popular Chinese Gambling Games
The Chinese do remain firm on keeping their traditional forms of gambling alive, primarily with classic games that have been played for centuries, and now some of them can be played as online casino games too.
Here are 5 of the most popular Chinese Gambling Games:
Mahjong
Mahjong is a matching game with a simple set of rules, the goal of which is to remove all tiles from play by matching identical pairs.
Any of the four flower tiles and any of the four season tiles can be matched freely. If no matches are possible, the game is lost. Bonus points are earned by quickly matching tiles.
Pai Gow Poker
The object of Pai Gow Poker is for each player to arrange their cards into two hands so that they both rank higher than the Banker’s two hands.
The five-card hand must rank higher, and the two-card hand must rank higher than the Banker’s.
Sic bo
Sic bo is an ancient Chinese game played with dice. The gameplay is fast-paced and doesn’t leave any room for strategies.
The game moves quickly and features a variety of bets. All the player has to do is wager on the outcome of the roll of the three dice.
Have fun and get to know the Sic bo in the online version now.
Keno
Playing Keno is similar to the lottery but with a higher chance of winning. Through your gameplay, you select numbers on a ticket and get paid if a combination of your numbers is chosen.
Try the best online Keno games to understand why the Chinese nation loves it so much!
Baccarat
The goal in Baccarat is to bet on the hand that will get closest to nine . Players can bet on the player’s or the banker’s hand or go for a tie. The winning hand is the one with the highest total value.
Do you want to check if you have the winning hand on Baccarat today? Wait no more!
Popular Chinese slot games
Although Chinese New Year comes once a year, you can celebrate it all year round with Chinese New Year-themed slot games .
These exciting online slot titles come with a distinctive touch of the Orient, featuring reel symbols, such as dragons, bamboo structures, lanterns and other traditional Chinese cultural symbols .
There are plenty of slots, but some of our favourites are Chinese New Year Slots by Play’n GO . You can get to know why by experiencing our suggested titles:
Big Win Cat, an online slot, is designed to captivate enthusiasts of Asian-themed casino games, making it an ideal choice to set the mood for the approaching Chinese New Year.
Whether celebrating the Chinese New Year or seeking an Asian-inspired atmosphere while spinning the reels, Prosperity Palace offers the perfect setting for your experience.
You’ve seen the animals of the Chinese Zodiac celebrating Chinese New Year before. However, Chinese New Year from Play’n GO does this theme with a particular style . While 15 pay lines are not that many, and 5 reels are standard, some features set this slot apart. They also offer:
Above-average RTP of 96.55%
Free spins with extra scatters
Includes an Optional Gamble feature
Bonus game with a prize of up to 150x
Regarding Asian-themed slots , the Chinese New Year and the Chinese Zodiac have always been a trendy topic, unsurprisingly, as the Chinese New Year is one of the world’s biggest annual celebrations.