Category: Gambling Superstitions

888 not only stands for good luck for gamblers, but it also helps them draw inspiration and remembrance that gambling isn’t all they know. It’s basically something that helps them go through hard times.

However, today we focus on the “luck” side of 888, so we’ll talk about habits that you probably have that you didn’t know can hinder good luck.

Too Many Superstitions

While there are many gambling superstitions, it’s important to not completely rely on luck, as this may do the opposite instead. You should also become familiar with a superstitious gambler’s etiquette so you can steer clear from anyone bearing it.

Leg-Crossing

Finger-crossing is known to express wishes for good luck. Crossing your legs is different and the opposite of that. It’s believed that this action will cross out your good luck and that’s why you’ll rarely see someone doing it in gambling facilities.

Entering in the Front Entrance

This is known by regular casino visitors and it originated when people started to think that when people leave the casino, their bad luck may rub on the entrance. That’s why many gamblers avoid the front entrance and find alternatives to entering.

Counting Money on the Table

It’s not clear where this superstition came from, but they say that not only will avoiding counting your money at the table make you more well-mannered, but it will also help you avoid any bad luck.

Unlucky Numbers and Colors

Just as how 888 and certain colors affect the luck of a person in a good way, there are also numbers and colors that induce bad luck. An example is the number 13 and the color black, which is shunned by many cultures, not only by gamblers.

Fifty-Dollar Bills

Fifty-dollar bills have many origins and stories where it came from, but ultimately, it is said to bring bad luck to the users of it. One story states that mobsters put fifty-dollar bills on the pocket of a person before they bury them.

There are many things that induce bad luck, but it’s important to think positively. After all, being optimistic may also bring you good luck as well as maintain a stable mental state.

The origins of this superstition had been lost in time, and there’s certainly no limits to it. With that said, you won’t only be hearing this in the gambling community.

$50 bills are often frowned upon by people and they tend to exchange it for others.

While it’s popular to non-gamblers as well, it’s likely that it started from the gambling industry such as poker players, bettors, and more.

It is often confused whether if $50 bills were just considered unlucky that resulted to them being unfamiliar and in turn, making them suspicious enough to be part of superstitions that gamblers know now.

Another version is that the series of events happened conversely. There are many stories that we’re currently aware of on how this superstition happened.

One version is that there was a bit of discrimination with fifty-dollar bills which goes back to the Civil War due to opposition for Ulysses S. Grant, and we all know it’s his face that appears on the front of the bill.

This only tells us that the “unlucky” fifty-dollar bill isn’t as superstitious as possible, and there are reasons to think so.

There’s another explanation that ties the superstition to Las Vegas. Although it’s not exactly recorded in any legitimate database, there was a legend that the Mob once ran the town and a someone didn’t have much luck with them and that they’d buried the body along with a $50 bill. This is perhaps the closest theory connected to gambling.

Another story which is probably similar to this is that Bugsy Siegel, a very famous mobster, when he was gunned down by the bosses of the Genovese crime family, had some $50 bills on him at that moment.

Yet again an alternative of this story is that Bill Hickock had only fifties on him, nothing more, the time when he got shot playing the “dead man’s hand” (a hand nicknamed from Hickock’s death) in the Deadwood saloon in 1876.

Besides the death of famous figures, $50 bills are also known for being easily or boldly counterfeited. That’s why gamblers avoid using fifty-dollar bills, but perhaps the tradition carried on until now.

Regardless whether this is true or not, it would probably do you better if you choose to avoid $50 bills when playing or tipping. Even if it’s not exactly connected to luck, it would be difficult for you to get to the good side of people in gambling facilities.