Baccarat’s winning number is the lucky 9 but Asian casino gamblers are way crazier about number 8.

Chinese gambling superstitions, like lucky number 8 and unlucky number 4, hold a key to gaining Asian casino gamblers, the newest ‘it’ group of customers in Las Vegas, Macau, and Native American Indian casinos. Combine that with popular Asian casino gambling games, like baccarat, pai gow, and sic bo, and casinos just might have a winning formula to justify their Asian dragon pits and Chinatown buses.

Mohegan Sun Resort and Casino, the world’s second largest casino, is upping its draw to Asian players with a $740 million expansion opening in summer next year. It will add 12,000 sqft of casino gaming space with 46 Asian gaming tables, and a 4,000 sqft Hong Kong style food outlet.

A new 5,000 sqft bus lobby will boost current marketing in which 50 buses transport 45 customers each daily from the nearby Boston and New York Chinatowns. For $10 round-trip, a player gets a coupon package worth $35 including a free bet and meal.

Asian & Chinese Casino Games

“20% is driven by our Asian American patrons, and that is how we run the floor. That is the same percentage of table games we are putting out there that are geared toward the Asian player,” says VP Rocco Santoro of the 2,000-plus Asian Americans gambling daily at Indian casino Mohegan Sun. Baccarat is easily the casino game of choice for Asian highrollers, but how about those who’d rather wager less? Santoro has more than a few answers.

Baccarat & Mini Baccarat are a hit among Asian gamblers with a high bankroll. The object is to bet on which is the highest two-card hand: Banker, Player, or Tie. In calculating hand values, the 10s place is dropped — 16 becomes 6, 12 becomes 2 — thus, the highest a hand can score is 9. An Ace always equals 1, whereas 10, Jack, Queen, or King always equals baccarat, or zero — the lowest possible hand. Both are played similarly but mini baccarat has fewer players, and the casino player is always the banker.

Pai Gow Tiles is an Asian favorite for the average to high bankroll. Using Chinese dominoes as tiles, the object is to form the highest pair of two-tile hands. That is, a player is dealt four tiles that he forms into two hands of two tiles each — the front hand is lower, the rear hand is higher. The 10s place is dropped so 9 is the highest possible hand; ‘pai gow’ translates to ‘make nine’ or ‘card nine’. Both hands must beat the opponent’s. Only one winning hand is said to be a ‘push’ and the player simply gets his wager back.

Pai Gow Poker, or Double Hand Poker, is one to add to your poker lessons as another choice of average to high bankrollers. A card game based on pai gow tiles, its object is to form the highest combination of five-card hand and two-card hands. That is, a player is dealt seven cards to form into two hands, in which the five-card hand must be higher than the two-card hand. Thus, if the highest of seven cards is a King, it goes to the five-card hand. Like in pai gow tiles, if only one of two hands wins, it results in a tie.

Sic Bo, a dice game whose name means ‘two dice’ or ‘dice pair’, is prefered by Asian gamblers who are less skilled or with a smaller bankroll. It uses three dice, and the object is to bet on a variety of outcomes the roll of dice will yield. Examples are Big and Small, considered the best bets at the table: Big is a bet the dice will have a total value between 11 and 17, Small is a bet the total is between 4 and 10. A player can place single to multiple bets, including Totals, Dice Face, Two Faces, Triple, Any Triple, Any Pair.

Asia Poker, 456 Baccarat, and Progressive Baccarat are three newer variations of casino gambling games Asians love to play, which Mohegan Sun is looking into adding to their tables.

[Play online baccarat or mini baccarat now!]