For those players who like to take off their baseball caps, Stetson hats or berets before they play, they should never put their hat on the table. This superstition stems from the idea that leaving a hat on a bed is a sign that the wearer will die; leaving a hat on a table will “kill” the player’s luck.
For those players that like to smoke, assuming you can find a casino that still allows smoking at the tables, you should also never light three cigarettes in a row from the same match. This idea comes from the fact that snipers would use the light from a match to draw a bead on their targets.
American players can often find a source of bad luck in their own wallets. Two denominations of US bills are often considered to be bad luck. Most players don’t like US$2 bills, since they are somewhat rare and treated with suspicion. In earlier times, players did not like US$50 bills as they were hard to exchange for smaller denominations.
Of course, every culture has what they consider “unlucky” numbers. In most Western cultures, the number thirteen is thought to be the “unluckiest” of all, with its associations to everything from witches’ covens to a movie serial killer in a hockey mask. If the cards turn against you on a Friday the Thirteenth, save your money and come back on Saturday the Fourteenth.
If you like to eat at the table, be sure not to spill the salt. Not only is spilling salt considered bad luck, you will have made a mess all over the table. Just be sure that, when you throw a pinch over your shoulder to counteract the bad luck, you don’t accidentally throw it into the eyes of a passing cocktail waitress – unless you really want to know the meaning of “bad luck”.