The Superstitious World of Gambling
Gamblers are notorious for superstitious behaviors. There are a lot of different things that each player does to hedge their bets, and often, it doesn’t work at all. There are some instances where skill overtakes the notion of luck, and it becomes an interesting exploration, but more often than not, these are not indicators of winning. Regardless of what one may believe, there are some elements of luck in gambling. If you look into gamblers superstition, you’ll find that common threads run throughout the world. The following are just some of the most common belief elements found within the world of betting.
The Dry Spell
In various casinos around the world, people watch machines. They look at slot machines, video poker machines, and other devices that are based on a computer or random number generator. The belief is that if a machine causes someone to lose often, that it’s going to get hot in time. When a perennial loser is found, the player will jump on board and spend all of their money chasing a windfall. The dry spell may never turn into a hot streak, but gamblers across the world think that there’s a method to this, and therefore they spy on other players and wait for a losing streak to appear before taking their place.
The deposit methods/options used
Some gamblers believe that their luck is tied to the online casino deposit methods they used. Usually this is because of the confirmation bias – “Last time I deposited via Skrill I won big time, so if I continue using Skrill I will win again”. Or I used casino deposit bonus last time and win so I use it again.
Red and Luck
Have you ever been to a casino or place of gambling and see people wearing red? Well, for many cultures, including Chinese, red is the sign of riches and good luck. This goes back centuries, and people attach luck to the color of clothing they are wearing, as well as the way things are situated. Red being the ultimate color of good luck.
Location Is Everything
Feng Shui is a Chinese art form of positioning elements in a home, or business. Feng Shui can be determined in the home, casinos, and even small businesses. Location is everything within this ideal, and one big news story broke when the MGM Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada changed the way that their casino floor opened up to the general public. You see, the building has a large lion out front, and that was the entrance point when it first opened. That changed when they saw a dip in gamblers, noting superstition. The gamblers superstition had everything to do with Feng Shui, as people did not want to be symbolically eaten by the lion.
The Rabbit Foot
One of the long-held elements of gambling and superstitions is found with the foot of a rabbit. Lore has it that anyone holding the foot of a rabbit will find themselves amidst good luck when gambling. This long held tradition dates back centuries across many cultures. The idea is that the rabbit is noble, fast, and lucky, therefore anyone that has their foot will find riches.
The Heater and The Cooler
Within the gambling communities across the world there are two types of people that casinos bank on. They are called heaters and coolers. Coolers are perennially unlucky. There is even a feature motion picture about this called “The Cooler”. Someone that has terrible luck, never wins, and therefore is inserted into a casino gaming table to offset those that are winning has been the secret weapon of casinos. But there are also heaters. People that win, no matter what, and people often seek them out. Gamblers are superstitious about heaters and coolers, seeking those that win often, to just be there, not even play, just to hang out in order for good luck to rub off on them.
Blowing On Dice In Craps
Lastly, but certainly not least, you’ll often see people blow on dice when they play craps in a casino. Blowing on dice is said to help with the luck element. People are superstitious in that their hot breath can help the dice roll towards the right numbers, giving a push forward amidst the odds.
At the end of the day, luck in gambling is not going to go away. Some games lend themselves to that. Gambling and superstitions are plentiful, and the above just represents a handful of things that gamblers do on a regular basis. There’s a lot more to explore, but the most common are found in the aforementioned superstitions.