Sports betting superstitions: No 50s, locks or ‘good luck’ allowed

“Eddie Mush was a degenerate gambler. He was besides the biggest loser successful the full world. They called him mush due to the fact that everything helium touched turned to mush.”

The supra voice-over from the movie “A Bronx Tale” helps acceptable up a country astatine the racetrack wherever mob brag Sonny, played by Chazz Palminteri, starts prematurely celebrating with pals what appears to beryllium an casual victor connected a equine named Kryptonite.

“It’s a lock,” Sonny says with a smile. “Don’t adjacent interest astir it. We can’t lose.”

But past helium sees Mush rooting for the aforesaid horse. Sonny instantly tears up his tickets and walks distant successful disgust without adjacent watching the remainder of the race.

“We can’t win. Mush stake Kryptonite,” Sonny says. “We’ve been mushed.”

Most gamblers cognize an Eddie Mush, oregon idiosyncratic they see to bring atrocious luck oregon beryllium a jinx.

“If you spell to a sportsbook rather often, there’s ever a feline that’s astir each the time, and usually the feline is conscionable terrible,” DraftKings sportsbook manager Johnny Avello said. “If you’re connected the aforesaid broadside arsenic him, you’re dead.”

There are countless gambling superstitions, including fortunate colors, apparel and charms and unlucky numbers — 13 successful Western civilization and 4 successful the Far East, wherever the pronunciation of the connection sounds akin to the Chinese connection for death.

There’s a gag that it’s atrocious luck to beryllium superstitious. But nonrecreational sports bettor Cris Zeniuk and countless different gamblers judge successful superstition.

“If idiosyncratic thinks something’s unlucky, I don’t ridicule that,” said Zeniuk (@lasvegascris). “If things are going good, support immoderate you’re doing the aforesaid way.”

On Halloween, here’s a look astatine 3 of the astir communal sports betting superstitions.

It’s a lock

With apologies to Sonny, helium mightiness person mushed himself erstwhile helium declared “it’s a lock” earlier the contention was over.

Legions of gamblers person been connected the cusp of cashing a summons erstwhile idiosyncratic says thing precocious successful a crippled on the lines of “you can’t lose” soon earlier the stake turns into a atrocious beat.

That’s the biggest superstition/pet peeve for galore bettors, including Zeniuk, pro sports bettor Jeff Whitelaw and pro handicapper Lou Finocchiaro.

“If idiosyncratic says your stake — that I nary longer ever stock with household oregon friends — is simply a fastener oregon that ‘you are in,’ you get kicked retired of my location for that,” said Finocchiaro (@GambLou).

Zeniuk besides abhors proceeding that he’s won his wager earlier the crippled is over. Even if he’s the 1 saying it.

“Not lone if idiosyncratic other tells you oregon congratulates you that you’ve got it successful the bag. But erstwhile you’ve done it to yourself. If you’ve mentally reconciled that you’ve already won, you’ve jinxed yourself,” helium said. “It’s happened to me. I’ve told myself, ‘I’ve got this successful the bag.’ Then immoderate small happening happened, and I knew for a information that I was a loser.

“People volition archer you you’re crazy, but you conscionable know. There is immoderate benignant of a higher vigor successful gambling … erstwhile you conscionable cognize thing earlier it happens.”

When the mild-mannered Whitelaw worked astatine a Las Vegas sportsbook years ago, helium was instructed however to grip the different 2 superstitions connected our list.

“I was ever told, ‘Don’t ever connection a subordinate a $50 bill,’ and ‘don’t ever privation him bully luck.’ So I ne'er did. That doesn’t fuss me. I cognize it’s superstition for immoderate people,” Whitelaw said. “What bothers maine is erstwhile radical archer you, ‘Oh, you’ve got this one’ portion the crippled is going on. Or ‘great pick’ successful the 3rd 4th erstwhile you’re up 21 points.

“I conscionable hatred erstwhile radical speech astir games portion they’re inactive going on.”

Good luck with that

For galore old-school gamblers, having a sportsbook summons writer privation them a seemingly innocuous “good luck” is considered a curse.

“Nobody wants to perceive ‘good luck,’” said seasoned Las Vegas oddsmaker Dave Sharapan (@SportsbkConsig). “The grinders and the radical that are betting each day, they deliberation you’re putting the maloik connected them oregon giving them the evil eye.”

Maloik is abbreviated for malocchio, the Italian connection for evil eye.

Longtime bookmaker Nick Bogdanovich recalled an incidental successful the precocious 1980s erstwhile his teller astatine Binion’s Horseshoe uttered a polite “good luck, sir” to legendary Las Vegas linemaker and bettor Herb Lambeck, aka “Herbie Hoops.”

“He made maine void the summons due to the fact that helium thought it was voodoo oregon atrocious luck,” Bogdanovich said. “Here’s 1 of the all-time greats of the industry. The miss said ‘good luck,’ and helium voided it.

“I don’t cognize wherefore definite gamblers find that offensive, but they do. If idiosyncratic tells maine ‘good luck,’ I accidental ‘thanks.’”

Legendary Las Vegas oddsmaker Michael “Roxy” Roxborough said the well-wishes yet drove Lambeck, his mentor, distant from the books.

“‘Good luck’ was the buss of decease for Herbie. No reason. Just that old-timers felt it jinxed the bet,” said Roxborough (@RoxyLasVegas). “Once the casinos got successful the sports betting business, it was modular for summons writers to accidental ‘good luck’ aft a wager, truthful Herbie utilized runners successful the casino sportsbooks.”

Longtime oddsmakers Jimmy Vaccaro and Vinny Magliulo trained their summons writers ne'er to archer bettors “good luck.”

“This started 40 years agone erstwhile we were dealing with radical who had ne'er been successful a sportsbook before,” Vaccaro said. “If the clerk says ‘good luck’ to you, each hellhole broke loose. You had to devour the summons and bash it each implicit again.

“They don’t privation to perceive ‘good luck.’ They conscionable privation to currency their summons successful 3 hours. To them, it doesn’t person to beryllium luck that causes them to beryllium a winner. It was aggravated moving and studying and getting a bully number. The worst happening that could hap was a fluke play. This wacko told maine ‘good luck,’ and present a feline hits a 57-yard tract extremity successful a blizzard to bushed me. Now where’d the bully luck go?”

Magliulo said it comes down to a substance of luck vs. skill.

“It’s not astir luck. It’s astir accomplishment to bettors,” helium said. “You privation to supply bully lawsuit service, but it’s champion to springiness the summons and accidental ‘have a bully day’ oregon ‘enjoy the game,’ due to the fact that to superstitious bettors, it has thing to bash with luck. They cognize who’s going to win. They don’t request immoderate luck. It’s each skill.”

Fifty ways to suffer your money

While the “good luck” superstition isn’t arsenic prevalent present arsenic it was successful the past, the $50 measure is inactive wide considered to beryllium atrocious luck by gamblers.

“No $50 bills. Ever,” Finocchiaro said. “That is an aged Sicilian thing. From mode earlier me.”

Magliulo said helium instructed his tellers astatine Caesars Palace and different books ne'er to springiness a 50 successful change, and helium didn’t enactment immoderate 50s successful their starting banks, either.

“A $50 measure is deadly,” helium said. “True bettors don’t stake with them and don’t privation them successful their payouts. It’s conscionable 1 of the old-school taboos. If idiosyncratic stake with it, you tin archer they’re astir apt not a professional.”

There are respective intriguing root stories of however the $50 measure became a awesome of atrocious luck. One is that the measure bears the representation of erstwhile president Ulysses S. Grant, who went bankrupt earlier helium died.

Another is that the mob would reportedly permission $50 bills successful the overgarment pockets of execution victims. Legend has it that Las Vegas Flamingo laminitis Bugsy Siegel had lone 3 $50 bills successful his pockets erstwhile helium was murdered successful Beverly Hills, California, successful 1947.

Other imaginable reasons for avoiding the $50 measure are that they’re a communal people of counterfeiters and tin beryllium mistaken for $20 and $5 bills.

“There are immoderate humanities reasons the $50 measure is unloved, but gamblers don’t request a reason. A jinx is simply a jinx,” Roxborough said. “And this 1 has been handed down done generations. I inactive ne'er person 1 successful my pocket, but I volition interaction one. That’s called progress.”

MGM Resorts manager of trading Jeff Stoneback said determination person been galore instances implicit the years successful which bettors person been upset astatine his summons writers for giving them a Grant.

“They deliberation we should cognize it’s atrocious luck and we shouldn’t beryllium doing that,” helium said.

Vaccaro has been rather acquainted with bettors’ feelings astir the cursed $50 measure since the 1970s. But, similar astir rational people, helium wouldn’t crook down excessively galore of them.

“I conjecture if you’re up against the wall, you’d similar to person 200 of them,” helium said.

Contact newsman Todd Dewey astatine tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 connected Twitter.