There has always been a strong streak of superstition in the gambling world, from craps players blowing on the dice to bingo players with lucky charms and markers to the absence of the number 13 at baccarat tables otherwise marked for players 1 through 15. Slot and video poker players have their superstitions, too. They're mostly harmless and can be fun as long as you don't take them too seriously. They run the gamut from ways to find a lucky machine to betting patterns to acting or moving in certain ways designed to bring good fortune. In my own family, my brother Jay does a jackpot dance that is the stuff of legend. We've spent many an hour playing video poker together in Las Vegas, and when it's time for a one-card draw for a royal flush or four of a kind, it's also time for the dance. No one actually believes it brings luck, but there's no way he'd proceed without it. Other players have rituals and habits too. They can't change the results of your spins and draws, but if they make you feel lucky, may the fortunes be with you."
1. Scouting Machines for Symbols on Reels
Some players won't put their money in machines where a previous player has left a winning combination on the reels. They assume a game that has paid off recently isn't ready to pay off for them. There's no truth to the idea. Results are as random as a human can program a computer to be, and past results have no bearing on future outcomes. A more nuanced version of scouting for reel combinations involves looking for near-misses. If a jackpot combination doesn't quite line up, the superstitious scout sees it as good luck coming just around the corner. He'll play in hopes of getting lucky in the next several spins. Even an American personal finance magazine in the 1990s climbed on the scouting for luck bandwagon. It told readers that on three-reel slots, if a cherry was left on the middle reel, the game was ready to pay off. Of course, there was no way to know how long the cherry had been sitting there, and the random number generator could have been running for hours since the last player. Even if you saw the previous player leave, the cherry isn't really an indicator of things to come. But if you enjoy scouting for luck, have fun. It doesn't help, but doesn't hurt, either.
2. Pulling the Handle vs. Pushing the Button
Relatively few slot machines even have handles in an era where video slots rule offline slot floors and increasing amounts of play are online. On three-reel slots and the small numbers of video slots that have handles as well as buttons, it makes no difference which way you play. Either pushing the button or pulling the handle signal the same random generator to generate a result from the same set of possible outcomes. Nevertheless, some players feel luckier with the handle than with the buttons, or with the buttons than the handle, and some switch back and forth. I once played next to a switcher who would pull the handle for 10 spins or so, and if she didn't like the results, switch back, then maybe switch again. I asked her why she kept switching between handle and button.
"It's just for luck," she said.
3. Lucky Hats, Shirts or Charms
No doubt you've seen many players wearing casino logo shirts, hats, or jackets while they play. Most of the time there's no underlying superstition. The player just liked the item and bought it in a gift shop, or it was a promotional giveaway, or maybe a prize in a slot tournament. But every now and then, a player will attach a more supernatural importance to the item. When I've seen players in casino logo gear with a particularly well-worn look, I've sometimes asked if there was a story behind it and come up with these superstitious behaviors:
"The first time I won a big jackpot was with three Double Diamonds on a three-reel, quarter machine," one older woman told me.
"I won $625 – 2,500 quarters, except they paid by hand and gave me five $100 bills, six twenties, and a five. I’ve never been so excited! I’m not sure I’d ever held a $100 bill before.
"They also gave me a casino T-shirt, and the next time I played, I wore it. I decided to take one of my $100 bills and try a dollar machine for the first time. Naturally, I chose Double Diamond. I noticed the pays were a little different. Three Double Diamonds paid 8,000 in dollars.
"I didn’t get the Double Diamonds, but I got a spin with Double Diamonds on the first reel and again on the second, and I kind of held my breath. Then I got a 7 on the third reel! Three 7s paid $240, and the diamonds doubled it twice. This time they gave me nine $100 bills and six twenties.
"That did it. I wore that T-shirt every time I played for 10 years or more." A middle-aged man told me his faded denim casino jacket wasn't any superstition, but the royal flush lapel pin he wore certainly was. "I was playing alone one night," he said.
"My wife had already gone up to the room. I decided to play a little more video poker, and I drew a royal flush in spades. It was amazing, an $8,000 hit.
"While I was waiting to be paid, a woman and her daughter down the row were as excited as I was. They asked all kinds of questions about royals and jackpots. One of them left and said, don't go away, as if I would. "When she came back, she gave me a lapel pin that was a royal in spades. Perfect! Now I wear it every time I play. It's my lucky charm."
4. Good Luck Chants or Rituals
Just like my brother and his jackpot dance, some players have rituals they go through when a big win seems near. While playing video poker one afternoon, I noticed a man next to me staying in the same rhythm most of the time, but occasionally taking a long count and muttering under his breath before drawing. On one of the long counts, I looked over and saw he had four parts of a flush on his screen. He saw me notice, and I didn't even have to ask.
"Call it superstition if you like, but whenever I have four cards to a royal or even other one-card draws, I can't just draw on my normal rhythm. I have to stop, survey the cards, make sure I've held the right ones four or five times. Then I form a mental image of the card I need. Image of Jack of spades in my head, I'll softly chant, 'Jack, Jack, Jack.'
"Does it work? Maybe about one time in 47. Let's put it this way. I've never drawn a royal on a one-card draw without my imaging and chant. To answer your next question, no, I don't try it without all that, so there's no comparison to be made. Why would I tempt fate?"
