The cashier at Hollywood Park told me that they weren't sure if the card room would even be open for New Year's Eve, so they dispensed with ordering any special chips. As things turned out, the card room was allowed to be open then, but games are being played in a tent in the front parking lot. I am still unclear on how mean ol' COVID viruses can be defeated within a tent but not within a building.

Drove all the way out to Morongo, a dealer said he had seen no special ox chips for the Lunar New Year and did not believe the casino ordered any. I didn't see anything special at any of the tables, either. I decided to play a few slot games, one a Chinese-styled game with an Emperor that came up. get three Emperors, and the game pauses while five Emperors show up with scrolls. Pick an Emp, he opens his scroll and you get the monetary amount shown. $5, $15, $30. I was doing good at finding the $30 ones, but one Emperor is a "dud," touch him and your "free rolls" are over. Then went around the corner and played some Rumble Rumble - usually not much of a game but it features a Golden Bull so I thought . . . hmmmm . . . golden bull for Year of the Ox? Sure enough I hit three golden coins, then free games (with the Golden Bull showing up at odd intervals to turn whole columns of icons into Free ones) - kept hitting more golden bull coins, the spins were extended, and I ended up with a $280 jackpot. At that point - I figured it was time to run out with the money. No ox chips but almost as good!