The Beauty Of Superstition
Superstitionis whereby a person believes in something without having reason or knowledge about the belief; this is often known as an old wives tale (see this Wikipedia entry). Since the first bet superstitions have always been an integral part of gambling. The most superstitious people are usually gamblers; whether it is a simple and common belief if you find a four leaf clover or whether it is weirdly carrying a dead rabbit's foot in your pocket; gamblers will do anything that will help improve their chances of winning.
The majority of players believe that their luck or misfortunes are affected by different situations within their environment which can cause them to "think" that this influences the effect on the game at hand regardless of the talent of a player. Some of the signs are more or less believable but many seem to be fully absurd but regardless of all the sensible arguments almost every player has some sort of beliefs; sometimes a player is not even aware of their superstitions.
"Are you superstitious?"
"I used to be but then I heard it was unlucky so I stopped."
Wherever you go in the world, players will have their superstitions and it becomes part of your culture and beliefs. If you look at the Chinese, they are infamous for being extremely superstitious in their culture especially when it comes to gambling. One of the main Chinese superstitions is connected with numbers. They believe that collecting the right numbers may affect the winnings of a casino bonus and fortune but by collecting the wrong numbers can bring big troubles.
Every country has a unique suite of beliefs that determine what action will bring luck and what will be unlucky but commonly players share similar superstitions. For instance, many years ago when the MGM in Vegas entrance was sculpted as the mouth of a lion, people did not want to walk through the mouth of a beast and now today many players believe that it is a curse to walk through the main entrance of any casino. Some gamblers believe that $50 bills are unlucky and refuse to accept being paid with them therefore even some casinos do not hand out $50 bills.
There are countless superstitions that can 'supposedly' cause bad luck. You should not whistle, break a mirror, walk under a ladder or cross your legs as these signs point to bad luck but more commonly known is that you shoulder never count your money while you are playing. Even Kenny Rogers stated this in his song "the gambler"
"You never count your money when you are sitting at the table, there'll be time enough for counting when the dealings done..."
Superstitions can also be seen as a positive to increase your chances of good fortune and keep the bad luck away. In Asia they believe the colour red is a symbol of luck so many people wear an item of clothing that is red to make them feel lucky. Whether it is blowing on the dice before you roll them or crossing your fingers superstitious players will always perform various rituals that in their own opinion will bless them with good fortune.
Superstitions are like opinions, we have them but not everyone believes in them. If a player wins they look at what transpired during the winning session and may decide to believe that the object/activity was responsible for their good fortune. However if a player loses they will look to blame what has caused the misfortune where they may have just lost because subconsciously they expected to lose which may reinforce that belief.
At the end of the day if you believe in superstitions and it brings you "luck" what is the harm in enjoying the time while you play, be it at an online casino or land based casino?
tags:gambling superstitions,superstitions
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