Poker and Gambling Superstitions!!!

Jedi Mind Picks · 05-25-12, 03:28 PM

I will post some bits and pieces of stuff that I find online...

Casinos often go out of their way to respect the superstitious beliefs of their patrons. For example, the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas underwent a major renovation in 1998, partly to conform to the beliefs of Asian gamblers who believed that walking through the mouth of a lion is unlucky. The MGM Grand at that time has an entrance in the shape of a lion's mouth.
It was believed that wearing a piece of dirty clothing will shoo away bad luck. Also, you should not cross your legs so that you will not “cross out of luck.”
- best known superstitious belief is the wearing of red-colored clothing. Red is supposed to be the color of good luck.

From Chez-Poker.com

Jedi Mind Picks · 05-25-12, 03:42 PM

Texas Dolly, the man who wrote the first great poker book, is superstitious. First there's Doyle Brunson's little trinket/card protector that he even named "Casper" because of the Ghostbusters logo on it. Casper's ability to bring good luck is so powerful that Brunson was able to rent it out to other players for $200 for 30 minute intervals at the 2005 World Series of Poker according to the ESPN telecast the same year.
"I figure I rented him out for over $15,000 in a one year period! Not bad for a $5 piece of black rock!" Brunson said on his Doylesroom.com blog.

Casper quickly garnered his own reputation as a rabbit-foot-like charm, so much so that fellow poker pro Howard Lederer bought Casper for $3500. But instead of simply handing Casper over, Brunson entered one condition into the deal: That he would keep Casper until his death and in Brunson's will Lederer would be named as the beneficiary.

Others are even stranger than that. Johnny Chan brings an orange with him to the table for good luck, because when he won the Main Event in 1988 he had an orange that he used sniff to clear his nostrils of the smoky odor in the casino. Today players are not allowed to smoke at the table during WSOP events, but that doesn't stop Johnny from brining the trusty piece of fruit. Players will do almost anything if it works. Sam Farha's famously known for having an unlit cigarette dangling from his lip. Every poker fan saw a lot of him and his cigarettes during his second place finish at the 2003 WSOP Main Event. The strange thing is Farha doesn't smoke.
"If I have a winning session, I'll keep the same things on, the same moves, everything. I don't smoke, but I keep a lucky cigarette. I lose a pot, I change the cigarette," Farha said during the 2003 ESPN telecast.

-predictem.com

Mr KLC · 05-25-12, 06:52 PM

I play music when I play. Something to try and keep me in a groove. I play "Rumour Has It" before the tournament starts. During the entire tournament, I play this until I'm out.

Jedi Mind Picks · 05-25-12, 07:04 PM

Originally posted by Mr KLC

I play music when I play. Something to try and keep me in a groove. I play "Rumour Has It" before the tournament starts. During the entire tournament, I play this until I'm out.

excellent choice in music

Mr KLC · 05-25-12, 07:17 PM

Thanks. It just has a groove in it that keeps me focused. Drives my wife crazy. She wishes I would lose early sometimes.

Mr KLC · 07-02-12, 09:29 PM

Got me a new tune I listen to. Have finished Top 20 in seven straight tournaments playing it. Keeps me in a groove. Old disco song from a Jamie Lee Curtis horror movie.

Hurls · 07-03-12, 06:30 AM

Great thread! I wonder how dirty the clothes have to be that shoo away the bad luck, people do funny things. lol

Jedi Mind Picks · 07-03-12, 09:12 PM

I used to shoot alot of dice as a kid, so I had a lucky quarter...
As a young man I had a pair of lucky underware .... for obvious reasons.
Later on I had a lucky hat that I would always take with me to play poker in Atlantic City.

This is when I discovered the power of the Pre-Tip. I dont claim to have made this up but I had seen it used several times in ring games but didn't really understand the purpose. The concept is simple. You tip the dealer for the hand you are about to win that he or she is about to give you....

I will explain, Its T-Day weekend, I make the trip to A.C. with a few friends for a 3 night stay. The plan is to play a bit of cash and hit the WSOP circuit event on the following day.... Upon the start of my first session at the Taj I quickly start to run bad. After a few hours my friends want to head out and rest up for the tourney. Im down a few buyins and decide to head to another poker room and turn things around.
The borgata is packed and the games are loose and passive but for me somehow things only get worse... Set over set, AA vs KK and it dosent matter which one i'm holding I just cant win. I leave late in the morning still wired on jack and cokes ive been drinking since my arival.
As a young poker player I have zero quit and to make it worse I'm basically traveling with my whole bankroll. Its not a ton of cash but at the time it was really all I had to fall back on.

The beats continue and it kills me because i'm playing well, reading my opponents and making nice laydowns! I skip the circuit event and stay casino hopping for the next 2 days, no sleep, I dont bother with the hotel and somehow I end up back at the Taj... I'm down to my last few hundred I think and two russians across the table are just running everyone over,I get pissed cause they refuse to speak any english at all...

Then it happens, new dealer comes in... An asain lady who dosent seem to understand why but when I start tossong her a hand full of chips she just smiles and laughs... I quickly tell her why!

Next hand I double through one of the russians with QQ... a few of us laugh and the dealer smiles again as I throw her a few more chips.
Right after I flop a flush and felt the other Russian guy who isnt to happy but I have no idea what he is saying. He rebuys and I continue to pre-tip the dealer. At this point its a little funny but what happens next just takes the cake.

I look down at AA and see Russian #1 jamming his usual insane overbet, I figure he is just tilted but after i reraise he is reaching for more... I realize he has KK and decide to min raise back hoping for a shove. He does. I end up flopping a set and still sweating a flush and straight draw on the river but I hold on to win one of my biggest pots as a very young player. I will never forget the dealer getting up and hugging me like I had won a jackpot.

Was I just overdue after a long weekend of getting my nuts kicked in? Im not so sure. I leave later that day with a small profit for the weekend. Really I was just happy to have survived one of the worst runs of my life with out going broke.

Funny thing is I don't remember ever giving a pre-tip after this but hey if you are ever really running bad and want to turn things around... It might be worth a shot!

Jedi Mind Picks · 07-03-12, 11:18 PM

Originally posted by Mr KLC

Got me a new tune I listen to. Have finished Top 20 in seven straight tournaments playing it. Keeps me in a groove. Old disco song from a Jamie Lee Curtis horror movie.

cant help but wonder how you started this trend