What do Chinese do in Chinese New Year. Some visit their family and friends while MANY OF THEM will be gambling. Depending on the crowds, most of them will play baccarat or Siam Ban Lak¹ while some will play Chor Tai Tee². I was on a losing side but I find myself lucky that I didn't lose as much as the next player. Some cousins lost more than RM20 in a single seating of a game!

Some of my friends went into mahjong but I didn't have the chance to play with them. Mahjongs are quite an interesting game to pass the time but most of my family member just don't go well with mahjong. There are some instances that they will play rummy. Still I have no idea of the game but I do know that it involves using the two deck and try to throw your card as much as possible.

Just goes to show, if you're aren't gambling during CNY, chances are, you aren't Chinese.

¹ Baccarat or Siam Ban Lak is relatively a simple game with a lot of twist such as Blackjack. The objective of the game is to score the higher than the dealer, therefore, sometimes perhaps in some instances get a double or triple the amount placed due to some special rule card.

² Chor Tai Tee or also know as Big Two is a famous game heralded from Hong Kong. It plays much like Poker with exception that the game must be played by 4 player (3 player can suffice but the rounding between players isn't much fun as 4 people playing it). The rule of the game is that value 2 (highest 2, lowest 3) in the card is the highest, continued by the suit. In that case, the suit follows Poker, where Spade is bigger than Hearts, which in turn bigger than Club and then lastly, Diamond. Objective of the game is simple: throw out as many cards as possible, but you must always top up the player before you. The player with the most & valued card is considered a loser and therefore must reshuffle the deck and deal to the rest of the players. Players can throw a single card, two card piece, 3 card piece up to Poker variations. Player who follow suit must keep topping up the value of the previous player. Once no one can top up the player, he/she can put in a new variation, which in turn starts a whole new turn.