I’ve always found it fun to write about gaming superstitions. The fact behind this is that I like to write about them as I know they have no relevance to gambling, luck or fortune. I find it great to find out what players think brings them good luck, whether it’s the color of their underwear or whether they should wear something while playing, or which dealer they choose to play with. Having been in the gaming industry for so long, I can assure you that nothing will change what the next card will be, where the ball will land, or how many jackpot symbols will appear on the screen.
However, superstitions add a lot of fun to the game. As long as you don’t take them too seriously, they can make your gaming sessions very exciting. Who are the most superstitious players of all? The Chinese. Also, what game do the Chinese love to play? Baccarat. Thanks to this, there are many superstitions surrounding baccarat, especially at high limit tables.
It is important to mention that many gambling superstitions apply to live casino games, and not so much to online casinos.
The first superstition of baccarat is to double the cards. Players double down on cards when they receive them, but they don’t look at their value, they look at the number of symbols printed on the edge of the card. This gives them an indication of what value the card may have. High cards have three suits printed on the top, and two suits on the bottom. The low cards are obviously different, with fewer pints printed on the edges. This leads to blowing cards for good luck, trying to get rid of unwanted cards by searching for the desired one. Similarly, if you know that you have a possibly good card but that it could also affect you, you also blow the card.
Both are absurd, since the cards will not change, regardless of whether you look at them or not. Also, this only happens at the higher limits, where players can touch the cards. For example, in my local casino, everything is automated, so the number of the cup is seen before they are distributed. I have tried blowing on the shoe but this seems to have no effect.
Baccarat is also a game where pens are common on the tables. Players like to keep track of the hands dealt, which is why casinos sometimes give out pens. This can lead to scenes where players touch the cards with the tip of their pen for good luck, or simply because they got the card they wanted. Again, this is in poor taste at low limit tables, but at high stakes, well, it’s almost a prerequisite to do so.
Again with pens, players believe that touching an ashtray or their drinking glasses brings them good luck. You can of course test this by playing at home in [Temporarily Removed]. Just touch your pen to your glass or ashtray before the next hand is dealt, and the idea is that you will win the next hand. If this happens, I promise you it has nothing to do with touching your glass or your ashtray.
You got it, there are some baccarat-specific superstitions out there. If you want to try them, try them with some other well-known superstitions and see if this brings good luck to your game, or more importantly, if you are having more fun in the game.