Since its creation in 1997, the Chinese New Year has become one of the most popular and most anticipated festival seasons. Now in its 18th year, the countdown to the upcoming Chinese New Year has begun!
Every Chinese New Year, people around the world flock to their nearest gambling parlour to place bets on the Chinese Zodiac.
These Zodiac bets are actually quite simple and can be based on several different metrics. For example, you can bet on whether the next Chinese New Year will be an element, a year of the rooster or a pig, or even whether it will be a male or a female Chinese zodiacal sign.
No matter if you’re a seasoned gambler or a newbie, there are a few betting odds that you need to know about before placing your bets this Chinese New Year season.
The Elements
The Chinese New Year is based on the 12 animals that make up the Chinese zodiac – the dog, the pig, the rat, the rabbit, the ox, the tiger, the snake, the horse, the crab, the frog and the dragon. From the beginning of January to the end of February, we will witness the birth, growth, changes and eventual demise of these animals. This is the basis for your Chinese New Year bets!
Each year, the animal fate of the new year will be revealed on the last day of February, at the annual Chinese New Year Festival. This will be a time for good luck, fortune and celebration!
The 2018 Chinese New Year celebrations will be held on the last day of February, as usual. This year, the theme of the festival is “Inspiring Change, Enhancing Impact”. As before, the fate of the animals will be unveiled on the last day of the festival and will be announced on the CWS social media channels.
Roster Years
Another popular wager is on whether the next Chinese year will be a “rooster” year or a “pig” year. The pig year is represented by the four natural elements – metal, earth, water and fire – while the rooster year is represented by the five natural elements – wood, water, fire, earth and metal.
You can bet on whether there will be a metallic sound as five natural elements come together in perfect harmony or a grunting sound as four elements violently clash in a battle of strength and survival. Either way, you’ll be rooting for the rooster!
To make a rooster/pig bet, you’ll need to place a $10-$20 bet on each animal. However, if the same animal wins back-to-back years in a row, your odds of winning will double (e.g., if you bet $10 on the rat and it wins, you’ll win $20).
You can also place a $2 bet for each element to win. The odds of each element winning will be determined by the total amount of money wagered on that particular event. So if more people bet on the ox, the tiger and the snake than any other animal, those are the ones you should be looking out for.
Gender
Certainty is a key element of any successful bet. You can’t always be sure of what will happen next year but you can usually get close. One of the more daring elements of wagering on the Chinese New Year is placing bets on whether this year’s festival will be a boy or a girl year. Boy years are represented by the elements – earth, metal, wood and fire – while Girl years are represented by – water, grass, cloud and wind.
To place a gender bet, you’ll need to place a $2-$10 bet on each element. However, if more people bet on the Earth element, then it’s a girl year; if more people bet on Metal, then it’s a boy year; and so on. If no one bets on a particular element, then it will be a “neutral” year.
Signature Scent
You can also place a wager on whether the next Chinese New Year will have a particular smell. The only requirement is that you need to be able to identify the scent of each animal. The ox has the strongest and most distinct odor, while the rat is known for its skanky stink.
To place a scent bet, you’ll need to bet $10-$20 on the four animals that have a distinct smell – the ox, the rat, the dog and the snake – and if you’re feeling extra generous, you can add another $5 on the dragon’s malodorous breath! The smell of each animal will tell you everything you need to know about that particular year’s Chinese New Year.
Hopefully, by now, you’re starting to get the idea of how easy it is to wager on the Chinese New Year. All you need is a few dollars and you can go all-in on the fate of a single species!