Page 22 - March 2009 • Southern California Gaming Guide

by Gail Anders
Iplay slots at the casino and usually have great fun. I don’t always win, but I have a very decent track record. But sometimes I know luck isn’t with me.
Last month I went to the casino with a friend who told me at out that she brought bad luck.
I told her I don’t believe that anyone can change my luck—but me.
But, what can you do to increase your luck without any hocus pocus? Here are five tips I believe can help.
1. Relax—No use stressing about what’s done. If you lost last time at the casino, remember that was another day. It’s done, let it go.
2. Listen to your gut feeling and your hunches. Don’t confuse a hunch with what you want to happen.
3. Expect the positive. Don’t ever say “I never win.” I always wonder why people who go to casinos say that. What on earth are they doing in a casino if they believe they will not win. Our words have power. When you go to the casino be positive about the outcome.
4. Have reasonable expectations about your luck in all aspects, and rejoice when you win anything. A state of grace in all that you do in life can make a di erence to you and everyone around you.
5. See the positive side of any situation—even losing.
So my friends ask me how I am doing at the casino this year, in this time of economic retraction. And I can
I believe it’s all in how you think about yourself— what’s going on for you—not only at the casino, but in life in general. If you look at life positively, then you already have good luck. People who have a positive outlook can even see the positive side of their bad luck. Here’s what I mean.
I won a string of jackpots last year. Good jackpots. I played some of my winnings back over the course of three months, and I was still ahead, but realized I was having a run of bad luck. So I stopped playing for two months. When I went back to the casino, the first night I was there, I won a $20,000 jackpot. Then I realized that sometimes what you think is bad luck is just a message to not push your luck.
I think of myself as lucky, no matter what—even when I am losing. In the long run I know that my bad luck will work out for the best.
But I know a lot of people who do the opposite. When they aren’t winning, they play more and chase their losses. ey talk about needing to wear their
lucky clothes, they carry lucky charms, and go to the casino on days with certain numbers. We’ve all seen slot players rub the screens, blow on the screens, and even bang on the screens to try to get the machine to surrender a jackpot. Bingo players even use little dolls and such.
Page 22
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
March 2009