Most Common Superstitions of Roulette Gamblers to Bear in Mind

You have probably heard the story called the "Monte Carlo Fallacy" which occurred at one of the casinos in Monte Carlo in 1913. According to this story, the ball landed on black 26 times in a row. During this streak of black outcomes, a large number of players began placing high bets on red, guided by the belief that it must eventually occur. The reason for these decisions was the superstition that, after a prolonged streak of the same outcomes, the probability of the opposite outcome increases. Thus, the concept of Gambler’s Fallacy emerged, essentially based on players' false beliefs about the nature of the game—in other words, superstitions. Therefore, I decided to analyze what other superstitions exist among gamblers. For this purpose, I analyzed several thematic threads on Reddit and a few other gambling forums. Based on this analysis, I categorized various superstitions into six main groups. Each of these will be discussed in detail below.

Group 1: Superstitions Related to Dealers

In this group, I placed beliefs that directly link luck to specific roulette dealers, their actions at the table, or when dealers change during a gaming session. Here are a few such comments I found on forums:

A user with the nickname Michaelscott555 left this comment in a Reddit thread:

I cashed out at the end of the trip and was heading back up to my room (on a cruise ship). As soon as I left the cashier, I found a $25 chip in my pocket. Decided to put it on the #8. Well, 8 hit and I won. I then asked the dealer, ‘What’s your lucky number? I’ll put $25 on it and if it hits, I’ll tip you half the winnings.’ The dealer said his lucky number was 5. So, I put $25 on 5, and the 5 hit!! Tipped the dealer half of the winnings from that spin, went upstairs, and went to bed. Haven’t played roulette since because there’s just no way I can top that.

Michaelscott555

A user with the nickname kotajikikox on the Bitcointalk forum wrote another example of such superstitions:

Because from my own experience in not over 5x, when the dealer changed, my momentum changed as well. Like one time I was on a large winning streak and suddenly the dealer changed, and from that moment my luck ended, and I continued experiencing losses until I quit at that particular time. And it happened multiple times. That’s why now my strategy is when the dealer changes, I stop playing at that table or in that specific game, then transfer to another one. With that strategy, I started realizing that it may be a strategy also used by the site or the casino houses. Don't know what they're targeting, but it happened.

kotajikikox

In reality, the dealer or a change of dealers at the table does not influence the game itself, much less the results. There are several reasons for this. First, there is the procedure of launching the ball by the dealer. The wheel spins in one direction, and the ball is launched in the opposite direction. Accordingly, the speed of the wheel's rotation, the ball's speed, and the initial point from which the ball is launched will always be different. This makes it impossible to predict the outcome. Additionally, before the ball lands in a numbered pocket, it randomly bounces several times against the edges of the roulette wheel. Essentially, nothing changes when dealers switch, as all these points remain random. By the way, regarding the case described by Michaelscott555, perhaps dealer behavior rules somehow differ on cruise ships. However, in land-based casinos, a dealer who advises a player on which number to bet would most likely be immediately fired, as this violates table etiquette.

Group 2: Lucky and Unlucky Numbers

Another group of superstitions is related to personal or cultural influences on choosing numbers to bet on. For example, the number 4 in Chinese culture is considered unlucky. Here are several such superstitions described by gamblers on forums.

In one of the topics on Tripadvisor related to Las Vegas, a user with the nickname lesson4u63 left the following comment:

The number 23 by FAR! Will NOT fly into Vegas on the 23rd of any month. Will not play 23 on Roulette. Will not gamble on the 23rd, even if I'm already there! Will not date another girl named Cathy ever again! lol Cathy is a BAD LUCK name for me big time!

lesson4u63

A user with the nickname NefariousnessAble937 in a Reddit thread left this observation:

My fiancé hit 0 and 00 back to back, $30 straight up and $20 on the split. Immediately left lol.

NefariousnessAble937

In the same thread, another user, bubMED, left this comment:

Drew 500 down to 25. Just as the plane is taking off, I put the last 25 on 0. The signal starts getting choppy, and the screen freezes as the plane starts leaving the ground. I catch some signal, and bink—it was 0 green. What a feeling.

bubMED

As we can see, gamblers hold various superstitions related to certain numbers; some are likely inspired by pop culture. I'm referring here to bets on zero or double zero. For some reason, many gamblers treat these numbers as special, even though, in reality, they're just the same straight-up bets as any other number. I'm not trying to discourage you from following your lucky or unlucky numbers but keep in mind that roulette outcomes are always random and impossible to predict. If you're already using your favorite number as a straight-up bet, it's better to combine it with other types of bets to balance out your risks.

Group 3: Pre-game Rituals and Actions

In this category of superstitions, I included those connected to routine actions or betting patterns believed to bring luck. Here are some comments:

In the Tripadvisor thread mentioned above, a user named bilah1 left the following comment:

I play European roulette—never sit down on a chair. While pacing back and forth, I 'shuffle' my chips. And hope the little ball lands on black.

bilah1

Here's another interesting comment I found from a user named imanadultok, who shared this story:

My friends and I went to the casino a week ago. They had a strategy: they would call their son and ask 'red or black?' Whatever the son said, they would bet the opposite. They started with $100 each, three of them. And hit like 12 times in a row. They stopped once they lost. It was an amazing run.

imanadultok

Thus, some gamblers incorporate certain behavioral rituals as part of their overall betting strategies. However, the essence of this approach is that players effectively transfer responsibility for their own decisions onto rituals or other people. This helps them eliminate unnecessary doubts. Naturally, this approach has nothing to do with the nature of roulette, and I wouldn’t recommend taking it seriously. However, as an element of "just for fun," why not?

Group 4: Number Repetition (Back-to-Back) Superstitions

As you probably already understand, this group of superstitions is related to consecutive occurrences of the same number in roulette—that is, the Gambler's Fallacy I mentioned at the beginning of the article. Here are several examples:

In the Reddit thread "What is your craziest roulette story?" mentioned earlier, a player named YaaDunnnn left this comment:

Last trip to Vegas turned about 200 into 1200 and then hit 11 three spins in a row.

YaaDunnnn

Here's another comment from the same thread, left by the user CamilloBrillo:

I won twice in a row with the same number (3) because I forgot to take my chips after collecting my winnings. Suffice to say, the other people at the table were amused when I asked who was the lucky mf who bet on the 3 again. After that, I moved some chips onto the 6 (as in 3+3), but my 'reasoning' failed—33 came out.

CamilloBrillo

The last user's comment perfectly illustrates the randomness of roulette outcomes and demonstrates why one should not trust that a particular number will hit multiple times in a row. In reality, believing this can lead to misconceptions and incorrect decisions. To avoid this, simply remember that the odds of hitting any particular number in roulette are always the same, independent of previous results. For the same reason, you should not trust the statistics provided in online real roulette, which display hot and cold numbers based on past outcomes. The presence of such statistics in online roulette only helps players make incorrect decisions while mistakenly believing those decisions are rational because they're based on statistics.

Group 5: Cultural & Symbolic Roulette Superstitions

The last group of superstitions is connected to the cultural peculiarities of different regions. Within each culture, certain beliefs about what brings luck or misfortune still persist. In Western culture, we all know the number 13 as unlucky. However, similar superstitions exist in other cultures as well. Here are several comments related to this topic, taken from a thread about Asian gambling superstitions on the Wizard of Vegas forum:

A user with the nickname smoothgrh wrote the following in one of his posts:

So far I'm hearing that red is lucky and white is unlucky, at least as far as China goes. Anybody know if any significance is attached to other primary colors (i.e., green, blue, yellow)? I don't recall hearing of any, but it would seem likely (e.g., yellow is the color of gold, so maybe it's considered good luck?).

smoothgrh

Here's another interesting comment from a user with the nickname Ayecarumba:

I think the slideshow indicated Chinese numbers are lucky/unlucky because they sound similar to words, while the Koreans approach them as resembling other words. As for other things that offer 'luck,' the online 'Feng Shui Mall' can hook you up with something for everything. It costs a lot to be superstitious. However, I think the idea of 'luck' transcends cultures and goes to a basic belief that we can influence the physical world by possessing objects with 'spiritual energy,' performing rituals, or saying incantations... I don't think the US is so different.

Ayecarumba

In my opinion, Ayecarumba provided an excellent explanation of superstitions based on cultural characteristics. These beliefs also have no real connection to the game of roulette. Still, they represent a complex combination of historical and cultural events that have influenced our understanding of what we commonly call luck or misfortune. You can continue to follow these superstitions but do so with the understanding that, in reality, they do not influence the game in any way.

By the way, statistically speaking, most people are not so susceptible to the influence of superstitions. An excellent example of proof that superstitions are increasingly becoming a relic can be found in a study published on Statista. During this, a survey was conducted among US residents on the subject of belief in some superstitions. The sample consisted of 2,236 respondents. And most of those surveyed do not believe in certain superstitions. Here are the statistics:

Group 6: Beating the Roulette House Edge

In this group, I included not exactly superstitions but rather false beliefs about the possibility of overcoming the roulette house edge. This is one of the most commonly discussed topics on any gambling-related forum. Here are a few examples:

For instance, a user named Stephen Tabone left this comment in one of the threads on Quora:

After 22 years, I have finally developed a strategy to win at roulette. I have tried it on live wheels—14 sessions, won every session, average 50% profit of bankroll, different wheels. I need to release two more strategies before releasing the best one, so the progression can be seen. This strategy is very powerful. It will be released within 3 months. Follow me on Amazon or email to know more. When ready, I will update here. Don’t let people make you think you can’t win at roulette because you can. The house edge doesn’t prevent you from winning. What prevents people from winning is not having a solid way of deciding WHERE and WHEN and by HOW MUCH wagers are placed. Also, many losers, of course, will say there is no way to win. Who can blame them...

Stephen Tabone

In the same thread, another user named Ian Andersen wrote:

Yes, locate a biased roulette wheel, monitor it 24/7, and take full advantage of a biased wheel when you find one. If you are willing to break the law, you could use a hidden secret computer to figure out what numbers are most likely to come up next. Ideally, the person placing the bets should not be the person using the computer.

Ian Andersen

In fact, there are many similar comments, and they all either operate with faulty mathematics, openly suggest fraudulent activities, or offer to sell some kind of "100% working" scheme. Some even invent their own betting strategies. However, in practice, none of the above can help consistently win or overcome the house edge. Even technical tools designed to measure wheel and ball speed or other conditions cannot predict results with 100% accuracy—they can only indicate an approximate sector. Roulette mathematics remains unchanged, meaning that the expected value is always negative, and the house edge remains constant. The longer you play, the higher your probability of losing becomes.

Conclusion

As the analysis above shows, superstitions and myths are integral to the culture of gambling games, particularly roulette. They help gamblers cope with uncertainty by creating a sense of control or influence over random events. However, it is important to remember that no matter which superstition a player follows, the result of each bet always remains random and does not depend on previous outcomes or external factors, such as changing dealers or lucky numbers.

Superstitions can make the game more interesting, and help players psychologically justify their decisions; however, using them as a winning strategy should be avoided. The most important thing is to maintain common sense and approach gambling responsibly, recognizing that no rituals, numbers, or omens can change the mathematical nature of roulette.