The number 13. Black cats. Broken mirrors. Those are just a few infamous superstitions, which is defined as “a widely held but unjustified belief in supernatural causation leading to certain consequences of an action or event.”
In poker, such a belief might be using a card protector hoping it’ll bring you quality cards or sitting in a specific seat during a cash game because it’s lucky. You may not be superstitious, but plenty of poker players are. We caught up with some of them during the 2018 World Series of Poker to explore the sort of things they believe.
Polling the Masses
One superstition popular throughout the gaming world is the avoidance of $50 bills. Many players consider them unlucky, and reports suggest that cashiers are told not to hand them out when making change. The origin of such a belief is seemingly lost to time, though there are several different theories out there.
Speaking of numbers, Kevin Blackshear had a superstition at his home game.
“I keep plenty of decks on hand so if a flop ever comes 666, I finish the hand and throw away the deck,” he explained. “I don't care if it is the first hand dealt. The deck goes in the garbage. I guess it is a superstition thing.”
Bruce Briggs, co-host of the Top Pair Podcast, also had a wild one concerning a home game.
“I used to go to a regular home game every Sunday afternoon about 55 blocks from my house. I had to go through 17 intersections with a traffic signal. I kept track, and if I hit nine or more green lights, I would finish in the money in the $40 tournament. The more greenlights I hit the higher I would finish. Needless to say, I was just learning the game back then and thought tournaments were mostly luck.”
Allen Spath is a firm believe that when you’re winning you should keep your routine the same: “When on a winning streak at the same location, try to find the same parking spot, enter the casino the same door, buy the exact same amount of chips in a certain denomination ($300 worth broken into $200 in red chips and $100 in green).”
Another fun story was related by Michelle Macatee.
“I sat in a seat where my USB charge didn’t work,” she said. “The guy to my left wouldn’t let me use his for six levels. Finally, he let me. The very next hand I flopped a set in the small blind, and he flopped top two pair. I took half of his stack. He then ripped my charger out and said the reason he didn’t let me all day was the fear of sucking his positive energy away.”
Staying on the topic of energy, Brian Pedersen has some negative energy associated with massages.
“I have a huge fear of busting while getting a massage,” he explained. “I don't want to have to ask to complete it at an empty table. It almost happened in $1,500 Big Blind Ante tournament at the WSOP this year, but I survived the all-in. My opponent tanked, and I just wanted him to stall another two minutes before my 20-minute massage was up.”
One man who had a more practical habit is long-time poker pro, Bernard Lee: “For me, my main superstition is kissing the pictures of my family before the start of play after every break. I kiss the picture of my kids, then my wife, and recently I have a new addition, our puppy. Just reminds me that there is more to life than just poker and, if I do get eliminated, I get to go home to this wonderful family.”
Two other pros who threw in their two cents were two-time MSPT champ Greg Himmelbrand and Allen Kessler. The former believed standing up when you’re all-in and behind is a sure way to ship a double, while the “Chainsaw” said, “you obviously never play the hand after a misdeal.”
Finally, we’d be remiss if we didn’t talk about one of our favourite lucky charms we came across this summer in James Gibson’s lucky hat. The man from Manitoba, Canada is an MSPT champ who prefers to wear his vintage 888poker hat!
The Legend of Steve Dannenmann
During the 2005 WSOP Main Event, Steve Dannenmann had a list of superstitions he adhered to. For example, he only rode in even-numbered taxi cabs, wore the same shirt seven days in a row, and he wouldn’t let his wife watch him play since she missed watching the first day of play.
It may all seem crazy, but Dannenmann did go on to finish second to Joe Hachem for $4.25 million.
"In a sense, it was perfect for me to finish second," Dannenmann previously told the Baltimore Sun. "If I had won, I would have been forced to face some life decisions and not be attentive to [my work]. But, by finishing second, I get to experience some of the poker opportunities and take them as they come, and I can still live my life. I have the best of both worlds. So, in my mind, I won."
Famous Card Protectors
Dannenmann also has a lucky globe card protector, which you might remember from WSOP episodes on ESPN. He was far from the first to use a card protector for luck.
For instance, during the 2004 WSOP Main Event, Greg Raymer famously used a fossil as a card protector. It stemmed from his hobby of collecting fossils and earned him the nickname “Fossilman.” To this day, Raymer uses a fossil at the table and signs it over to whoever is fortunate enough to knock him out.
However, when it comes to famous poker card protectors the most famous is Doyle Brunson’s “Casper” lighter, which actually featured the Ghostbusters logo. The 10-time bracelet winner said it developed such a reputation that other players would pay him to use it (rumour has it - $200 for 30 minutes).
Ironically, Brunson doesn’t consider himself too superstitious – he eventually sold the card protector to Howard Lederer for a reported $3,500 – and, in the past, has even cautioned against it.
“Superstition is so destructive to poker profit that I believe the costliest thing a player can bring to the table is a good-luck charm,” he once said. “When I’m in doubt, I generally go with my feelings, but that’s not the same thing as superstition. I’d prefer to make decisions based on percentages and perception, but when those don’t point to a clear choice, I let gamblers’ intuition be my guide. I figure there might be something that I’ve unconsciously observed steering me in that direction. Maybe it’s wrong, and maybe it’s right, but since I don’t have a more scholarly reason to make a decision, I’ll go with that feeling.”
He continued: “But superstition is quite different. When you’re superstitious, you do things that are contrary to common sense and analysis. And you lose money. I’m not saying I’ve never had any mild superstitions. But you’ve got to fight them back and not let them guide you.”
Do you have any poker superstitions? If so, let us know on Twitter @888poker.
