I don't get the "trying your luck via gambling" thing. You could try your luck without betting money on it.
Unfortunately most of the people gamble because of that hidden subconscious thought that they will make a "big hit" and they will win big money without any efforts. This is basically your "monkey mind" playing tricks on you. I remember that the subconscious mind was called "monkey mind" by buddhism and keeping your monkey mind under control is the most important part of growing as a person.
I'm no expert in Chinese culture and we have to ask some Chinese guy about the theory of gambling being a big part of Chinese culture.
My culture definitely doesn't require me to gamble. Gambling is still viewed as a bad thing where I live, despite many people visiting the offline casinos and playing lottery.
right, I've read about that "monkey mind" too...
but they say that religion and culture can't be unified, gambling on Chinese holidays has become their tradition long before Buddhism emerged, so they are like carrying out a tradition, not religious teaching.
Judging by a Chinese proverb that says something like this, that if you don't gamble, you will never be able to find out how lucky you are, then yes, this tradition is to try your luck for yourself, but again, it doesn't oblige you to anything. The population of Macau is about 700,000 people, but at the same time it is visited by almost 40 million tourists a year and the majority are Chinese residents.
besides vegas, Macau is a tourist destination for gambling lovers all over the world, people don't look for natural beauty here. reportedly Macau has not opened up yet but in the near future, Macau will start to open of course with restrictions on visitors (from foreign countries).