Lunar New Year Activities
Once we stuffed ourselves with food, it was time for the main event, or at least it seemed that way when we were kids. It was a gambling game called bầu cua. A paper playing mat was laid out onto the floor which portrayed six, vibrant images: a fish, a prawn, a crab, a rooster, a stag, and a gourd.
My Uncle Jimmy, dressed in a traditional silk Tangzhuang garb, would play the role of the dealer (he would also enthusiastically play the role of Santa Claus every year for Christmas, if that tells you anything about his personality). In his hands was a bowl, placed upside down on a plate which formed a dome shape. Within the ‘dome’ were three dice with six painted sides which corresponded to the pictures on the playing mat.
The idea is – you wager your bets by placing money onto the playing mat, however you thought the dice landed. Most of us kids would usually just bet quarters, but some of my ‘high rolling’ older cousins liked to throw down those dollar bills. The three dice would act as a multiplier for your winnings. So, if you placed one quarter on a prawn, and the dice showed one prawn, you’d receive a payout of a quarter (in addition to the one you bet). If the dice showed three prawns, that was a jackpot! You’d receive a payout of three quarters. If the dice didn’t show any of your bets – well, sorry! Your money goes to the dealer.
Uncle Jimmy would shake the bowl with a spirited gusto before letting the dice land and sit inside, unrevealed. We’d have maybe 10 seconds or so to place our bets, led only by our intuition.
“Khui! Khui! Khui!” we would chant with a growing fervor (“Khui” was Vietnamese for “open”). A hush would take over the room as Uncle Jimmy would theatrically pull off the bowl to reveal the dice inside, and then an eruption! If you closed your eyes and just listened, you could tell who won and who loss and by how much.
These were the sights and sounds and tastes of my childhood. And each Lunar New Year, I get to joyfully relive it. The only difference is, these days, I’m usually the dealer while it’s my little cousins, nieces, and nephews who gather around and pensively lay down their quarters.
Visit our Lunar New Year page for more ways to celebrate including make-at-home crafts and recipes!
