Page 14 - Southern California Gaming Guide • January 2020

by Maya Winkler
Starting a new decade and a New Year brings a reminder of change and a time to celebrate. Hopefully, your 2020 New Year celebrations were joyful and fun. And perhaps you even spent New Year’s Eve at your favorite casino and brought home some winnings to start the year off with good luck. Now it’s time for another New Year celebration: the celebration of the Lunar New Year. There are wonderful Lunar New Year festivities and events taking place at featured Southern California casinos in January and February.
ancient times as a protector and bringer of material prosperity. The Rat year is traditionally a year of plenty, bringing opportunity and good prospects. The Year of the Rat begins on January 25, 2020 and ends on February 11, 2021.
Many casino players look to the Lunar New Year for a time to renew their luck. So, will you be lucky in the Year of the Rat? One thing is for certain: by the end of 2020 you won’t be the same. Ironically, the only constant in life is change.
Celebrate the Lunar New Year at Southern California Casinos
Make the Lunar New Year a lucky time with cash
giveaways, traditional Chi- nese New Year Lion and Dragon Dances, and Hong Bao lucky red envelope cash giveaways. Check the following featured casinos for exciting Lunar New
Year celebrations. Celebrate the Lunar
New Year, the Year of the Rat in the $518,888 Lunar New Year Celebration at Barona Resort & Casino from Saturday,
January 25th to Saturday, February 8th, with over $518,888 in cash giveaways! You’ll want to be in the Lucky Seats on Saturdays, January 25th, and February 1st and 8th, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., when every 8 minutes one lucky player will win $888 cash. And in Lucky Points on Tuesdays, January 28th and February 4th, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Club Barona players will receive 8x Cash Back Points on slots, keno and tables (Rapid Games and live poker not included) and 3x points on video poker. And get in the running for Lucky Drawings on Thursdays,
Lunar New Year Origin
For those unfamiliar with this auspicious time, here’s a brief background. In the U.S., the term Lunar New Year is used interchangeably with Chinese New Year,
celebrated not only in China, but all over the world, primarily in Asia, in countries with large Chinese populationsincludingHongKong,Singapore,Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. In the U.S., Lunar New Year celebrations are a highlight for many Asian communities.
The source of Lunar New Year isn’t exactly known, but it has gained importance through centuries in tradition and myth. The Chinese or Lunar New Year was officially recognized in 104 b.c., when Emperor
Wu of the Han Dynasty established the lunisolar or
lunar calendar. Some historians trace the New Year's origins to earlier in that century. It is based on cycles of the moon and sun, and so does not usually coincide with the Gregorian calendar. Lunar New Year begins on the new moon and continues for an annual cycle.
Traditionally, the Lunar New Year is a time to honor ancestors. Typically, the night before Lunar New
Year, family and friends
gather over a dinner that
includes foods that are
meant to enhance wealth,
happiness and luck. Some
include fish, noodles,
tangerines and sweets.
Tradition also calls for
a thorough cleaning of
the house and clearing
personal matters to rid
any bad luck and make
room for good fortune.
People often exchange red
paper envelopes (red means good luck) called Hong Bao that contain money in specific lucky numbers in multiples of 8’s and 9’s.
Year of the Rat
According to the Chinese zodiac, each lunar new year is ruled by one of 12 animals in the following order: rat, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, dog, horse, sheep, rooster, monkey, ox, and pig or boar. It is surely fitting that the beginning of a new decade starts with the first of the 12 animals: the rat. The rat was welcomed in
PAGE 14
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
JANUARY 2020