Bacon lovers, the Year of the Pig starts today

When a pig is late to the party

People say all sorts of things. For example, that those born under the sign of the pig have a beautiful personality and are blessed with good fortune in life. We won’t confirm or deny. What we can do, is give you a little more insight into this ancient Chinese tradition. And suggest a couple of sizzlin’ piggy-themed slots to sweeten the deal.

History first

The Chinese calendar, known as Sheng Xiao, is represented by 12 animals, each of which is said to somehow affect your fortune for the year. Things like affairs of the heart, career, best times to have a baby, wealth and so much more are thought to have a direct relation with these zodiac animals. These 12 animals are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.

And 2019 happens to be the year of the Pig. But how did all this tradition come to be?

There are several variations of the original story, but all involve the same guy who called himself the Jade Emperor. The most popular theory is that he brought together 12 animals and made them race against each other. That’s what happens when you’re emperor and have nothing more serious to do. He then created the calendar according to how each animal finished this race. In our case, since Mr Pig took it calmly, he placed twelfth in the order of things.

The zodiac cycle repeats every 12 years and is calculated according to the Chinese lunar calendar.

Born in the year of the Pig?

If your sign is the Pig, you might be interested to know that according to ancient Chinese tradition, people born in the year of the swine tend to be intelligent, realistic, careful with their money (but still like to enjoy life), love entertainment and occasional treats, a bit materialistic, hard working, energetic, enthusiastic and are always looking for positions of power and status.

In Chinese culture, the Pig is ‘yin’ (that’s the female part of yin and yang) and is considered as a symbol of wealth. Think of this the next time you see a piggy-bank.

Pigs are mostly compatible with Tigers, but there’s also great swine-vibes with Rabbits and Goats. Apparently, Snakes and Monkeys won’t share a pizza so easily with a Pig.

The colours yellow, grey and brown are considered lucky for Pigs, as well as the numbers 2, 5 and 8. Blue and green are however not to be seen, and numbers 1, 7 and 9 are said to bring bad luck.

A selection of piggy-themed slots

The Great Pigsby

Join the epig party in the The Great Pigsby, a 5 reel, 243 ways to win slot by Relax Gaming. It comes with expanding wilds, wild reel re-spins and a free spins round where you get 10 free spins. Playable on all devices from 10c up to €200 per spin (or any other currency equivalent). RTP 96.55%

Piggy Pirates

Come aboard the Piggy Pirates ship and join the porky crew in this Red Tiger Gaming slot with 6 reels and 40 paylines. Lookout for the free spins round where all wilds that hit are collected and then added to the reels for a final super spin. Playable across all devices from 20c up to €40 per spin (or any other currency equivalent). RTP 96.11%

Piggy Riches

Find the pig win in Netent’s Piggy Riches, a 5-reel video slot with 15 bet lines that could award you up to an incredible 28 Free Spins in the Free Spins bonus round. This is triggered by 3 Lady Pig scatter symbols anywhere on the reels. When 5 Treasure symbols land on an active payline, you’ll crack a jackpot of 2000 coins. RTP 96.4%

Big Bad Wolf

Help the Big Bad Wolf huff, puff and blow the house down in this 5-reel slot by Quickspin. The wolf blows away the winning combinations so they can be replaced by new ones and possibly give you win after win. The three little pigs also offer you fun surprises in this entertaining video slot. RTP 97.29%

Chinese New Year

Celebrate the Chinese New Year with this entertaining slot from Play’n Go. Spin the reels and create winning combinations with animals from the Chinese Zodiac. Slot features include scatters, wilds, a gamble feature, a free spin bonus and a firework bonus. 5 tiger symbols on an active payline multiply your stake by 5,000 times. If you land 3 dragons on reels 3, 4 and 5 you’ll trigger the Fireworks Bonus feature for some explosive wins. The RTP is 96.65%.

Read on, we got some more applesauce for you.

Can pigs race . . . again?

But of course they can! We’ll be hosting the following boosted Reel Races with a 1st prize of €2,000:

• Tuesday 5th February: The Great Pigsby at 20:00
• Wednesday 6th February: Big Bad Wolf at 20:00
• Thursday 7th February: Piggy Riches at 20:00

All you need to do to join these races is log into your account at 8PM (CET) and win as many times as possible before the clock runs out. If you finish first, you’ll win a hefty cash prize on top of your casino winnings.

The Casumo Reel Races are fast paced casino tournaments running all year long. When you race, you compete against other casino players to get to the top position. Find out more how Casumo Reel Races work.

---

Terms & Conditions for Reel Races

18+ | Daily opt in required. Races are timed. Winner determined using ranking system. Minimum bet required. Limited spins per race. Only spins from qualifying games after the start of the Reel Race count towards your total. Player country and currency restriction apply. Terms and conditions apply.

Please gamble responsibly. For advice visit begambleaware.org