By Rebecca Do
My grandmother asks my father — her son-in-law — to take her to the casino every weekend. I found it funny at first; an old lady frequenting a casino, playing craps at a table surrounded by the contrastingly young men and women who were out on their day.
She was a seamstress back in Vietnam. Morning in the southern slums, pre-war, she sewed and created garments on garments, clothes on clothes for the people in her village. By night, she sold medicine for cheap out of her home by the Mekong Delta.
And because my parents were immigrants (and by default, penny-pinchers) I grew up vehemently against the idea of gambling or spending your money on things that didn’t need it, which is why I was so surprised the first time they took my grandparents to a casino. My grandfather was indifferent, but my grandmother loved it. That’s what mattered.
We had visited Vegas a lot when I was a child too, and up until a couple of years ago, I had no idea why. Spoiler: it was because of my grandmother.
My astute observations found that there were many Chinese or Vietnamese elderly at the slot machines or poker tables in the Treasure Island lobby. So many people looked just like her, and thus the catalyst for my investigation: why are there so many Asian people at casinos?
A “Front Public Health” study hypothesized that it was due to three prevalent, underlying themes: poverty, stress and desperation.
An interviewee stated that gambling represents a “hope that they can have freedom of money” and was rooted in a desire to escape poverty. Gambling represented a dream of a better future.”
According to that same study, stress due to work (because of that Asian frugality that seems to be embedded in all of our communities) also leads Asian Americans to gamble.
Games such as Mahjong, pai gow and “bầu cua cá cọp” from China and Vietnam respectively, have made themselves known in party scenes (source: my house during Lunar New Year) and are used as means to mingle and catch up.
For my grandmother, however, gambling takes up whole Saturdays. And when she’s not gambling, she’s asking my parents about the next time they’ll take her.
And just a little food for thought: if you’re Asian, recall, and maybe in the next couple weeks, observe how your relatives act when playing these particular games. Aren’t they just so lively?
There is a more sinister side to this odd correlation between race and gambling, though. It comes as Big Casino (trademarked) (not really).
When I was on the prowl for psychological reasons as to why so many Asians just love gambling, I found that casinos also tend to prey on elderly Asian Americans.
Casinos tend to market themselves towards Asian clientele, and in a report authored by Asian CARES in Massachusetts, their efforts used in targeting Asian immigrants worsen the effects it has on their communities. Remember: gambling is a social activity to them. To have it so accessible compels them to spend more time with their friends, thus boosting profits.
In California, I’ve seen the onslaught of casino billboards on the 405 and the 22, and now my interest grows each time I see one. They know their audience. Now that I know that they know, it hits a lot closer to home.
If you’re Asian and wonder why your older relatives seem to be glued to whatever gambling board game the party has out that night, now you know why!
