Back
What Are the Most Popular Casino Lucky Charms?

Casino Lucky Charms

Crossing all borders and cultural divides, you’d be hard-pressed to find a human society that doesn’t have some kind of lucky charm superstition. In the Far East, you’ll find Koi Carp and Jin Chan offering luck and good fortune. Travel westwards as far as Ireland, and you’ll find lucky four-leaf clovers and leprechauns.

In an age of science, data, and technology, it should be easy to disprove and dismiss lucky charms. Yet, lucky charm superstitions continue to go strong, offering people a supposed edge in randomized activities. Some even find their good-luck charms to ward against bad luck or unfortunate events that are otherwise out of our control.

Table of Content:

Naturally, with randomness determining the outcomes of casino games, casino lucky charms remain popular to this day. Here, we’re exploring these casino lucky charms and how they continue to play a part in online gambling.

Historical Perspective

Good-luck totems have been around for centuries. For the most part, lucky charms would provide comfort to those who were uncertain or faced circumstances beyond their control. With the rise of the casino establishment in the 17th century, these totems became casino lucky charms. Now, there are even some adjusted superstitions specifically for casino gaming.

Origins of Using Charms in Casinos

Luck is usually considered to be a near-supernatural force that influences the outcomes of everyday events. However, it’s not completely at its own will. People use totems, charms, and even goodwill to harness luck and try to swing it in one’s favor.

So, lucky charms naturally lent themselves to casino floors, where all outcomes are mostly based on randomness. Randomness requires luck to be swung in your favor, it would be theorized. Some of the earliest lucky charms at gambling houses included carp scales in your pocket, a phallus with wings, a hangman’s rope, crocodile teeth, or a rabbit’s foot - lots of animal parts, unfortunately.

Evolution of Superstitions in Gambling

Gambling superstitions have moved from holding luck in individual items to performing certain behaviors. Now, casino lucky charms are more like casino lucky rituals. The most famous of these is, when playing craps, having someone blow on the dice before shooting. This superstition spawns from the 1955 film Guys and Dolls.

Other good-luck gambling superstitions include wearing red – which is an age-old superstition – crossing your fingers, and gambling when you’ve been unlucky in love. There are also bad luck superstitions to be aware of. You’re never supposed to cross your legs or count your money while playing a game, nor should you whistle.

Impact of Lucky Charms on Gambling Behaviour

Relying on lucky charms can give someone confidence, and that may result in different outcomes. For some, it’ll rid them of worry and allow for clearer thinking, as the good luck charm will make them play correctly. For others, casino lucky charms almost warrant more reckless betting in the belief that luck is on their side.

Superstitions vs. Strategy

Casino superstitions are beliefs that you’ll experience a good or bad outcome due to certain actions that empirically cannot influence the outcome. Strategies, on the other hand, are behaviors that are influenced by probability mathematics that can be proven to offer a higher likelihood of success. Basic strategy in blackjack is a prime example of a sound casino strategy that will have a greater chance of success than any superstitious behavior.

Psychological Comfort in Luck

Superstitions, of which casino lucky charms are a kind, can act as a comfort or a coping mechanism. Randomized games are beyond any player’s control. Only games that allow player actions within a round, such as blackjack, reduce how impactful the randomness influences the outcome.

Having a charm that you believe to be lucky can offer a sense of control over the randomness and relieve some doubt about the otherwise chaotic outcome. It’s not just in casino gaming either. Lucky charms have historically brought comfort to people facing events beyond their control, such as extreme weather events or when sending family members off on their own journeys away from home.

Types of Casino Lucky Charms

There’s a tremendous range of casino lucky charms, totems, and symbols that gamblers can latch onto, even when playing online.

Personal Charms: A Gambler’s Choice

Essentially, anything can be your lucky charm. If you’re playing roulette, place your last chip on number 28 and it wins, you may consider number 28 to be your lucky charm. Or, you may consider whatever you had in your pocket or whatever device you were playing on lucky.

Traditional and Cultural Charms

Traditional and cultural lucky charms are generally passed down to you by your family or members of your community. These are the charms that are most commonly turned to by gamblers and utilized in slot themes to appeal to more players.

Fancy getting yourself some classic lucky charms? These are the most popular that people still turn to today and where you can find them!

Horseshoes and Luck

Horseshoes have long been considered lucky in European cultures and can provide luck in two different ways. When hung up in the home, you can either have the horseshoe turned upwards or downwards. Upwards horseshoes let the charm catch luck. Turned downwards, and the good luck that it exudes will block evil. In the slot game Wild Wild Riches, the golden horseshoes are turned upwards.

Four-Leaf Clover

Hailing from Gaelic cultures, and synonymous with Ireland, the four-leaf clover was once used by the Celts to ward off evil. Later, it developed into a lucky symbol to find in the wild. Being so iconic, you can easily find the four-leaf clover in many slots, including Clover Gold, Clover Fortunes, and Clover Lady.

Lucky Number 7

Number seven, particularly in Western cultures, is often seen as the luckiest number. In China, eight is the lucky number. Why seven is lucky gets many answers, but one that holds a lot of weight is the fact that seven can’t be divided or multiplied to within the range of one to ten. So, it stands out, and is reinforced as lucky symbology by games like 7s Deluxe 7 Sins, and Diamond Explosion 7s.

Lucky Cat (Maneki Neko)

In Japan, the Maneki Neko is a commonplace ornament, offering good fortune by waving its paw towards the owners. A popular origin story for this lucky charm comes from a man who followed a waving cat to escape a storm. You can play alongside the lucky cat in Lucky Neko: Gigablox.

Eye on a Palm (Hamsa)

Hailing from North Africa and the Middle East, the Hamsa or Hand of Fatima has been found as far back as ancient Mesopotamia. The lucky charm shows an eye within the palm of a hand. It’s said to protect against evil when the fingers are spread and to bring good luck when the fingers are together.

Laughing Buddha

A laughing Buddha statue is said to bring new opportunities and beginnings when placed almost anywhere in your home. Should you have a south-facing living or dining room, though, putting a laughing Buddha here will bring prosperity. Whether or not the Funky Buddha brings prosperity is not yet known.

Koi Fish

Koi fish, named by the Japanese, are colorful freshwater fish often used as decorative pets in Asian landscaping and design. These carp are said to bring all of the good stuff: courage, success, prosperity, perseverance, and good fortune. Koi are often used in the Chinese practice of feng shui and are the focus of the slot game Lucky Koi.

Money Frog (Jin Chan/Chan Chuy)

Three legs may be unlucky for a frog, but if it’s Jin Chan, it happens to be very lucky. The Money Frog hails from ancient Chinese myth, in which the frog will appear under a full moon to deliver riches to those whom it visits. Often seen covered in jewels and holding a golden coin in its mouth, just as it does in Super Lucky Frog, Jin Chan is one of the most popular lucky charms in the East.

FAQ

What is a Good-Luck Charm for the Casino?

A good-luck charm for the casino can be anything a player decides to entrust with perceived symbolic luck; but you’ll be luckier basing betting choices on strategy.

What is the Chinese Lucky Charm for Gambling?

The Chinese lucky charm for gambling is Jin Chan, otherwise known as the Money Frog. In gambling, the lucky charm offers guidance to good fortune while also warding off potential bad luck.

How Do You Bring Good Luck to the Casino?

You may be able to bring good luck to the casino by doing your research, learning everything that there is to know about your game of preference and, where applicable, learning strategies beforehand.

What is the Lucky Colour to Wear When Gambling?

Good fortune and an increased chance of winning is said to come from wearing the color red. Wearing red is thought of as being lucky for gamblers, and many casino game creators use red for the felt on their tables.

Can Lucky Charms Really Affect Gambling Outcomes?

Lucky charms can’t affect gambling outcomes as the games always rely on randomization. Random outcomes from slots to blackjack can’t be influenced by any kind of lucky charms. A player who believes in the power of lucky charms can be affected, though, sometimes believing in a positive outcome against the odds results in a larger loss.

How Do Casinos View Superstitions Among Players?

Casinos see superstitions among players as a part of the entertainment. So, many play into these superstitions with the color schemes of venues and themes of games. Many of the most popular online and land-based casino games feature the color red and casino lucky charm symbols, like golden horseshoes and the lucky number seven.

Are There Cultural Differences in Lucky Charms?

While the vast majority of cultures have lucky charms, there are many cultural differences between the specific charms. Not only in their aesthetics, but lucky charms will also often differ in their reasoning for luckiness and how they give you luck. In the Western world, many just offer good luck, while in Eastern cultures, luck will more often come in the form of good news or good fortune.

Learn more about casinos in our guides: