Tips and Tricks to Get Lucky in Las Vegas

Everyone has that friend or family member that just always seems lucky. They get complimentary upgrades, find the $100 bill on the sidewalk, bet on the long-odds winner, and hit a jackpot handpay on a 50-cent bet.

Luck just seems to come so naturally to some, which makes the unlucky want to scream, "Why not me?" 

So what if you’re not naturally lucky? Can you summon the ‘Luck Gods’ to your side in your time of need? Some people seem to think so, although a few of the methods are a little questionable!

If you’re heading to Las Vegas casinos soon and want some tips and tricks on being lucky, I compiled a few you can try. 

It is believed that casinos used to employ ‘coolers’ - people who are inherently unlucky or a ‘jinx’ - to sit at tables and break players' winning streaks. In the Oscar-nominated 2003 movie ‘The Cooler,’ William H. Macy plays Bernie Lootz, who is the best cooler in the business. However, whether coolers actually existed is still debated.

The Luck Dilemma

Before we dive into the lucky missions themselves, let’s just take a minute to consider what luck actually is.

Is luck tangible? Can you create it? Can you feel it? And if you have it, can you lose it? Many people believe in luck, be it lucky charms, lucky symbols, lucky numbers, or even lucky pants.

There’s enough information out there that proves luck—certainly as a theological concept—has been believed since the start of time via myths, legends, and gods.

Fortuna is the goddess of fortune, luck, and fate in Ancient Rome, while Goddess Tyche is worshipped as the personification of fortune in Greek mythology. In Hinduism, Ganesha and Lakshmi are the God and Goddess of fortune and luck, while Japan has the Seven Lucky Gods that bring luck and prosperity.

Luck, therefore, clearly has a deep-rooted origin in many beliefs and cultures. 

We see its significance through the symbolization of numbers, letters and objects such as four-leaf clovers, horseshoes, rabbits feet, dragons, ladybugs, and the numbers 7 and 8. Dragons also feature heavily in game designs, such as my favorite slot, Dragon Link. The mythical creatures are considered symbols of power, wealth and fortune.

Science, of course, opposes the notion of luck and turns it into something more rational. Saying that, there are plenty of scientists, Nobel Prize winners included, who would agree that their breakthrough came about through pure accident.

Certainly, when it comes to gambling, many players I know have some kind of superstition or lucky ritual. Of course, there are others who think it’s just a load of baloney, a false construct swept up in a sea of coincidence and random number generators.

Whichever category you fall into, I’m sure you’ve heard the expression ‘you make your own luck.’ So, with that in mind, let’s delve into a few ideas that may help luck find its way to you.

Rub Something Lucky

Okay, so this isn’t a chat-up line, it's actually a thing.

Las Vegas is jam-packed with statues and monuments that are meant to carry some lucky juju that passes to you when you touch them. But you can’t just rub any part; you have to touch the right bit. Again, just to reiterate, I’m not flirting.

Caesars Palace used to have an impressive five of these in total, but recently they did away with Cleopatra’s bosoms, so to speak, and they changed another so it’s difficult to touch.

However, if you’re willing to give anything a try to optimize your luck, then here’s who or what you have to get up close and personal with.

• Touch the big toe of Michelangelo's David statue—Caesars Palace
• Rub the boxing glove of Heavyweight Boxing Champion Joe Louis statue—Caesars Palace
• Visit the Brahma shrine and wish for good fortune—Caesars Palace (outside)
• Touch the index finger of the Caesar statue, the inside one, not the outside one (if you can reach!)—Caesars Palace
• Rub the Buddha’s belly and/or toe—Aria
• Rub the Laughing Buddha’s belly—Hotel California
• Touch Elvis’ ringed finger on his statue—Westgate
• Kiss or touch the Blarney Stone—The D

In 2005, slots player Elmer Sherwin pulled off the impossible by becoming the first player to win two multi-million Megabucks jackpots. The first win came in 1989, just nine hours after the Mirage opened, winning $4.6M after borrowing $20 from his ex-wife to play. Then in 2005, aged 92, Sherwin won $21.1M at the Cannery Casino in North Las Vegas.

Wear Something Lucky

The Chinese are particularly big on colors and what they symbolize, but they aren’t the only ones.

Red is the luckiest color in Chinese culture. It symbolizes good fortune, happiness and prosperity and is used in weddings, festivals and celebrations. Red envelopes are often stuffed with money to give as gifts, and there’s even a Lucky Envelope slot game you can play in Las Vegas casinos.

Wearing red anywhere on your body is supposed to attract luck, but specifically wearing red underwear apparently makes you the luckiest. This is not only a feature of Chinese culture but also in Spain and Italy, where it is believed that wearing red underwear on New Year's Eve will usher in a year of good fortune.

If red isn’t really your color, there are other lucky shades you can wear. Gold symbolizes wealth and success and yellow signifies power and authority, which might be a good one to wear at the poker table.

According to psychology professor Richard Wiseman there are four common traits of lucky people – Resilience, Intuition, Optimism, Opportunism. There is no official mention of red underwear in his research but maybe he just didn’t ask the question.

Do Something Lucky

Depending on how far you’re willing to go for some good fortune, there are some guidelines you can follow to let Lady Luck know you’re single and willing to mingle in Las Vegas.

Toss a Coin Into a Fountain

Las Vegas is known for its fountains, specifically the Bellagio Fountains, of course, but there are actually quite a few others in and around the Strip. The tradition of throwing a coin into a fountain and making a wish goes back centuries, when it was believed that the coin was a gift or sacrifice to deities in return for making the wish come true.

The Trevi Fountain in Rome receives an outrageous 1.5 million euros worth of coins every year ($1.6M), which is donated to charity. The Bellagio Fountains, in comparison, receive just $12,000 a year but it still goes to charity so you can maybe bag yourself some good karma as well as some luck.

Throwing coins into things isn’t always lucky, of course. A passenger in Shanghai once got caught throwing coins into a plane’s engine for good luck, which wasn’t the best idea.

Find a Lucky Charm

Whether it’s something personal to you like a cuddly toy, gift, or photograph or something a bit more generic, some people swear by lucky charms. 

It doesn’t even have to be a mascot; it can be a pair of socks, an item of jewelry, or even just ordering the same drink you had last time you had a nice win. 

If it already has some good mojo attached to it, why not see if it’ll go for a twofer?

Bet on Lucky Numbers

Most people have their own personal ‘lucky numbers,’ often related to birthdays or celebration dates. But, within various cultures, there are specific numbers that are meant to represent good fortune, luck and prosperity.

In the UK and most of Europe, seven is considered a lucky number, while in China and Japan, the pronunciation of the word ‘eight’ sounds similar to ‘prosper,’ so it is considered exceptionally lucky.

If you want to bet on ‘recognized’ lucky numbers, you can choose to play slots such as Blazing 777, Gold Bar 7’s, 88 Fortunes, and Samurai 888, or place your chips on 7 or 8 in roulette.

Of course, if you’re a craps player, then seven can be both lucky and unlucky depending on where you are in the game. It’s great for a first roll, but once a point is scored, it’s the last number you want to see. 

Gamble in Plain Sight 

There is a superstition that slot machines that are placed at the end of a row, in a prominent position or close to a main doorway are more likely to pay out big jackpots than those hidden in quieter spots.

The more cynical gambler would say the claim is complete tosh and that the casino has no way of knowing when a slot will pay out. However, one thing that is true is that casinos love to show off winners.

Every casino worth their salt boasts all over social media and online about big jackpot winners, so it makes sense that they would want a big audience within the casino too.

There’s also an element of Feng Shui, if you’re into that kind of thing, that suggests the positioning of certain machines can improve the flow of energy and luck.

Avoid Unlucky No-No’s

Avoiding supposed ‘unlucky’ elements is just as important as doing ‘lucky’ things when it comes to bringing good fortune. Or so they say.

Here are a few faux pas that you should definitely be avoiding if you want to welcome luck into your life as enthusiastically as my puppy welcomes me at the door.  

Don’t Use $50 Bills

This superstition that $50 bills are unlucky has been around for decades and has three possible origins.

Firstly, the $50 bill bears the face of former president Ulysses S. Grant, who went bankrupt before he died; secondly, the mob would reportedly leave $50 bills in the jacket pockets of murder victims, including Vegas legend Bugsy Siegel; and thirdly, the $50 bill is a common target of counterfeiters and can easily be mistaken for $20 and $5 bills.

It’s a well-known concept even within the gambling industry. The 2021 article from the Las Vegas Review Journal explains that betting tellers at Caesars Palace were instructed never to give a $50 bill in change, and they never had any $50s in their starting banks either.

Whatever the reason, if you want to attract luck, it’s best to avoid $50 bills when you’re gambling just in case.

A ‘Mush’ is someone who has nothing but bad luck and consistently loses in gambling. The name comes from the 1993 film “A Bronx Tale,” where the character Eddie Mush, played by Eddie Montanaro, is said to turn everything he touches into ‘mush.’ Even his mere presence puts a jinx on a bet. So, you know, don’t be a mush.

Don’t Count Your Money at the Table

‘The Gambler’ by Kenny Rogers spells it out for us. Whether it’s considered bad luck or more bad etiquette, counting your chips at the gaming table while in the middle of play, is frowned upon. 

Similarly, you should only touch your chips with one hand rather than both.

If you don’t want to risk bad luck, don’t go counting out your money there and then. Play it cool; even if it doesn’t bring you luck, you’ll still feel better for pleasing Kenny Rogers, I’m sure.

Stay Clear of Negativity

We’ve already talked about supposed ‘lucky’ numbers and colors to help shine the lucky light in your direction. So, it goes without saying (but we’re saying it anyway) to avoid the ‘unlucky’ ones.

The number 4 is seen as particularly bad in Chinese culture because the way it is pronounced sounds similar to the word for ‘death.’ Similarly, the number 13 is considered unlucky everywhere in the world apart from Japan and Italy.

Tell Us Your Lucky Picks

If you’ve got your own lucky spots, traditions or superstitions, we’d love to hear about them. Let us know what you do to feel lucky in Las Vegas or any casino, and most importantly, if it works for you!