Luck Busters
I just read an article in the Online Betting Guide—which is, remarkably, an online publication—listing a bunch of examples of gambling superstitions.
The Online Betting Guide, or OLBG, was established around 20 years ago to provide information to help sports bettors, but it recently expanded to cover online casinos. It’s a player-facing thing. Meaning it faces players. I mean, players face it. And read it for advice.
I don’t know what I mean. Anyway, superstitions. The OLBG staff researched a wealth of surveys and other data sources to compile a list of the most prevalent superstitions among gamblers. And some of the things people do to summon luck are pretty wacky.
Personally, I don’t go in for superstitions about gambling. I take a scientific, probability-based approach to determine which games give me the best chance of winning, and I carefully apply that empirical data to my gambling session. It works great, as long as I have my lucky possum foot with me.
In fact, according to the findings, there are a lot of people who won’t enter a casino without carrying lucky charms—talismans, as opposed to the magically delicious cereal—and the article listed examples. There are the traditional ones, like a rabbit’s foot, a lucky pendant, a lucky coin or a medallion engraved with the image of Sammy Davis Jr. (that’s what I carry).
But then there are more unusual examples. A lucky $2 bill. A horned toad’s toenail. A horseshoe. Now, I know the $2 bill thing is real, because I just recently saw a guy whip C-notes to a craps table from a wad topped by a single $2 bill. (It didn’t help. He lost. The whole table lost.)
But a horned toad’s toenail? Where do I even get a horned toad’s toenail? Is there a website? Can I get it on Amazon? Or do I have to do a stakeout with nail clippers in my backyard?
And a horseshoe? I’m not lugging a horseshoe through a casino. I might as well carry a sledgehammer. (Although I hear that’s lucky, too.)
Other superstitions revealed by the study are lucky clothing, lucky colors, lucky numbers and various rituals related to summoning luck and shielding yourself from unlucky vibes. Many people stick with an article of clothing they wore when they landed some big win—a hat, “winning socks,” even underwear, which I addressed in this space last April.
As you may recall, that month I reported on a contest run by an online casino listing site to win a “dream job” to find out what the luckiest underwear is. They offered $4,000 for expenses to go and gamble wearing various colors of tiny underwear. It seemed like too much work to me: gambling, recording wins, changing underwear.
As I have now learned from the OLBG investigation, people who wear lucky clothing often withhold laundering the item during a hot streak. For socks and underwear, that’s probably not ending well.
By the way, I’ve kept going back to the site that ran the underwear promotion, but I can’t find any evidence of someone getting the job or information on which underwear ended up being the luckiest. I’m wondering if someone just took the $4,000 in expense money and bolted.
Let’s just say purple underwear is the luckiest and leave it at that.
I was surprised to learn that many players consider red a lucky color to wear in casinos. I always thought red was a jinx color, that wearing it would put you in the red. But evidently, red is considered a lucky color in many cultures, with the report even citing the red décor in the old-timey casinos. Well, as the article’s author wrote, “one person’s lucky red might be another’s jinx color.”
My lucky color is plaid.
The article listed the common number superstitions, from lucky 7s (8s in Asia) to unlucky 13, which, the study found, is used by many gamblers as a sort of defiant luck charm. $50 bills are unlucky. Many players consider them cursed. My philosophy is that two $50 bills make $100, so give me 20 of them, and I’ll feel lucky.
As far as luck-hunting rituals and pitfalls, never enter a casino from a side or rear door. Always go in the front, which is lucky in Chinese tradition. Never say “good luck” to anyone, because in the casino, that’s the kiss of death. (I always say, “I hope your gambling session goes horribly wrong.”)
And don’t ever let a dog near a table game, because they scare away Lady Luck. And then they get other dogs, and play poker.
Hey, I saw a picture.
