I once heard about a woman who always wears the same underwear when she goes out to gamble – the friend that told me about this lady also said that it wasn’t too clear whether she ever washed the pair since the taxi drivers outside the Vegas casino she played at had all taken vows never to drive her again. I won’t discuss how he found out about her habits and superstitions, but let’s just say that he had gotten to know her better than most of us would like to.

Many people, and not only those that participate in gambling, have their respective superstitions. The great American basketball player Michael Jordan was known for always wearing his North Carolina college shorts under his Chicago Bulls uniform for good luck. There was also a great television commentator who would never conduct his soccer commentaries without the aid of his special knife – it is said that a miniature, almost toy-like pocket stiletto, was given to him as a present by the greatest footballer of all time, Pele. Needless to say, since the introduction of metal detectors at most world stadiums, it has become near impossible for the same commentator to enter the commentary booths and today much rather prefers to perform his passion from the studio.

Since I have lately been thinking greatly about some superstitious, mind-bogglers, told to me by many gamblers, I have decided to share some of them with you. These may seem a little far-fetched – I myself cannot figure out whether they are true or simply just old wives tales told within the gambling community. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy the read.

Ahead of the game

Apparently, somewhere in a Californian jail resides an ex-online casino player who is known for unplugging his computer directly from the wall socket every time he made a substantial win. When asked why, he responded that ridding computers of their bad energy is essential if one wishes to be a successful online gambler. He also confessed that he has demolished a number of computers because of the practice. The man was arrested and prosecuted when the police found his neighbor’s severed head in the trunk of his pickup.

Boil them Coolers

In Vegas lived a perspiring, overweight woman who believed reverentially in casino Coolers. For those who don’t know, Coolers are individuals hired by casino managers, and sometimes the casino owners themselves, to bring bad luck to players. Somehow inherently possessing heaps of misfortune, these people are rushed to ‘hot-tables’ where patrons are doing better than the casino would like them to, and so, by some unexplained phenomenon, the payer’s luck turns instantaneously rotten. Hocus-pocus you may say? Perhaps …

Looking very suspect, whilst sitting at a blackjack table in a well known Vegas casino, the woman in question began wincing profusely: a sweltering puddle of water rapidly accumulated beneath her footwear and many of the other players at the table began asking her what the hell was going on; some of them thinking she was about to give birth. Shunning a response, the woman acted oblivious to the sodden affair. Soon after security arrived, they discovered that the woman had taped a number of boiling water-bottles to her torso, thighs and upper-arms. Later in the hospital, whilst treated for second degree burns to her left thigh, the woman said that one of the water bottles had unexpectedly punctured, but she didn’t want to tell anyone because she was ashamed to admit her superstition. “Just trying to beat them damn Coolers, that’s all,” said the woman when questioned about the peculiar incident.

Backdoor Breakers

This particular superstition is quite an old one: it has been told for years, and I for one completely believe in it – I know of people who have tried to pull this off on many occasions.

A great number of casino players believe that walking through a casino’s main entrance is bad luck. These people go through great lengths to make sure that they enter casinos via alternative entrances. Since most avid gamblers make friends with staff members at casinos they often get a helping hand; they are let in through casino kitchens, or security entrances, which as far as managements are concerned constitutes for a serious breaches in security. Since casino security is not as lax as it used to be, players who have problems coming in through the main entrance have recently found the going tough.

But it wasn’t until 2009 that a 45 year old man attempted to abseil into a casino located on the 12th floor of a well known building in the city of Cape Town, South Africa. The man saw the perfect opportunity when he spotted that one of the casino’s windows was wide open. Known for his rock-climbing talents, the man attached a karabiner to the top of the building and courageously abseiled down. He however dismally missed his marker and entered a room two floors up where a gang was conducting a drug deal. Thinking that they were slap bang in middle of a police raid, the gangsters fled the room leaving the man with close to 2 million dollars in cash, and all the drugs to last Hollywood for a week. Talk about a Casino Bonus.

In this case superstitions worked for the gambler and not against him.