How to Improve Your Luck

[zengrifter]

How to Improve Your Luck

For centuries, people have recognized the power of luck. To investigate scientifically why some people are consistently lucky and others aren't, Richard Wiseman advertised in national periodicals for volunteers of both varieties. Four hundred men and women from all walks of life responded.



Over a 10-year period, Wiseman interviewed them, asked them to complete diaries, questionnaires and IQ tests, and invited them to his laboratory for experiments. He found that lucky people get that way by applying some basic principles:

• Seizing chance opportunities
• Creating self-fulfilling prophecies through positive expectations
• Adopting a resilient attitude that turns bad luck around

For example, he gave lucky and unlucky people a newspaper, and asked them to determine how many photos were inside. On average, unlucky people spent about two minutes on this exercise -- but the lucky people only spent seconds. On the paper's second page, in large type, was the message "Stop counting: There are 43 photographs in this newspaper." Lucky people tended to spot the message. Unlucky ones didn't.

Halfway through the paper, was a message that read: "Stop counting, tell the experimenter you have seen this and win $250." Again, the unlucky people missed it. The lucky people saw what was there, rather than just what they were looking for.

Lucky participants also put effort into adding variety to their lives, tended to be more optimistic, and were happier and more satisfied with their lives.

The good news is that when Wiseman described the techniques to help participants react like lucky people, 80 percent reported being happier and luckier after just one month.

One unlucky subject said that after adjusting her attitude, her bad luck actually vanished.

The bottom line? Thoughts and behavior affect the good and bad fortune you encounter. The most elusive of goals -- an effective way of taking advantage of the power of luck -- is actually available to everyone.

Sources:
Reader's Digest November 19, 2008

[newb99]

Some years back I attended a conference where a very well know UK entrepreneur was making a presentation as to how he had got to where he was at (so to speak). At the end of it when he took questions, I asked him to what degree luck, and just happening to be in the right place at the right time, had contributed to his success.

He quoted the Gary Player (??) line "the more I practice the luckier I get", and basically said that he tended to make his own luck. Lots of attitude of mind stuff.

I thought that was quite ironic, as during his presentation he freely admitted that he had been a tad economical with the truth when it came to meetings with the funders who had provided the money to get him off the ground. The fact of the matter is that if he'd been straight with them, he'd probably still be seeking his start-up funding today.

A glowing example of making your own luck although hardly one of honesty pays?

[aslan]

I think we have two, possibly, three things here. Luck, the perception of luck, and the influence of perception on luck.

If you win a million dollars you are undeniably lucky in the conventional sense, Of course, there is alway someone who will perceive such a windfall as straight from hell. But we'll leave that alone for the sake of simplifying the discussion.

Then there is the person who sees bad luck as good luck. What? Yes. I've seen it many times. A person does something stupid in a contest and immediately remarks, "That's the best thing I could have done, because...!" or "That was actually a stroke of luck,, because now I am really motivated!" or "Adversity builds character!"

Lastly, there is the person who tends to see "bad luck" in a good light, which in turn influences future performance--"This can't last much longer--I'm due to win." "Look at the bright side--it can't get any worse!" "It all evens out!" "What goes around comes around." "Now it's my turn!" They keep themselves from falling into despair ("If I didn't have bad luck, I wouldn't have any luck at all!" "I'm snake bit!" "I can't win for losing!" "The gods are against me!") and thus negatively influencing outcomes if skill or active participation is any part of the wager. In fact, their belief may influence positive outcomes, in the sense of self-fulfilling prophecies and the fact that the first rule of performance is that you must "believe you can."

The last two are what Wiseman is talking about. They are pragmatic steps that every successful gambler knows by heart. But the first--out-and-out fortuitous good luck--is something that the last two don't stand a prayer against. Every good gambler knows that as well.

Keep the faith!

[Diver]

So it seems that lucky people are those who prepare and pay attention, they engage with their world in a positive way. Or is it that people who engage positively, who prepare and pay attention are more apt to encounter good luck than those who are pessimistic, inattentive and ill-prepared? I believe I've had more than one winning session because I had sufficient dollars with me to reach in my pocket and take advantage of a split and doubles (not that I haven't been clobbered by splits and doubles as well, by this is a point about being prepared to take advantage when the opportunity presents itself). I confess that as I'm playing more and for higher stakes, the mental aspect of staying positive and alert in the face of a losing session or three is the most demanding aspect of this game.

[aslan]

Originally Posted by Diver

So it seems that lucky people are those who prepare and pay attention, they engage with their world in a positive way. ...

I would have thought that luck could be had even by one who did not prepare and pay attention, but maybe not usually to the same degree.


I win the lottery. I hit the number three days in a row. I inherit a million dollars. I find a bag full of money in the wall of my house. I have cancer and it suddenly disappears.

This author says there is no such thing as luck:

How to be a lucky person?

Written by Kardi

Thursday, 13 May 2004 Article by Kardi Teknomo

You found this article … you are lucky! And you are luckier still, because I am going to tell you how to become even luckier.
You have learnt that things happen in your life mostly because of your own decision. Having “free will” means, you can determine your own luck. It is your choice whether to be lucky or always suffer misfortune. "Luck" actually does not exist. [Emphasis added.] Luck is just your perception on a chance event. If you look at chance from positive point of view, then you say you are lucky. Even if you sometimes experience a mishap or something negative, it is your way of thinking that ultimately makes you are successful. When you see that some failure happens, you should only focus on your success. You can set your believe that success is your true nature, while the failure is just incidental caused by random events.

Luck is nothing more than perceiving a random event from an optimistic point of view.

more--
http://teknomo.org/articles/top-arti...ky-person.html

[Automatic Monkey]

There is definitely such a thing as luck. As anyone who plays blackjack with or without an advantage knows, sometimes we are lucky and sometimes we aren't.

The only problem is we don't know which way it's going to be until the session is over!

If ESP or psychic predictive ability exists and is applicable to blackjack, I wouldn't need to see the cards coming out of the shoe to use it. All I'd need to know is whether I will feel lucky or unlucky coming out of the casino.

[zengrifter]

Originally Posted by Automatic Monkey

There is definitely such a thing as luck. As anyone who plays blackjack with or without an advantage knows, sometimes we are lucky and sometimes we aren't.

The only problem is we don't know which way it's going to be until the session is over!

If ESP or psychic predictive ability exists and is applicable to blackjack, I wouldn't need to see the cards coming out of the shoe to use it. All I'd need to know is whether I will feel lucky or unlucky coming out of the casino.

Zengrifter on Luck -

(excerpted from ZGI page-32)

Many times you’ve told me about your ‘New Age’ philosophy. Are there any ways in which
these beliefs have helped you at the blackjack tables?

Well, I once went through a phase where I only played blackjack at pre-determined times
throughout the day that had been calculated by a nationally ranked astrologer, but my results were
inconclusive.

Seriously though my beliefs, which I occasionally use as cover, it never impairs the accuracy of my
counting or bet sizing. I do, however, embrace a Buddhist-like paradigm of ‘universal mind’ by
recognizing that all manifestation is consciousness. I prefer to call it ‘higher consciousness’ or
‘quantum reality’ and my leanings toward a more Eastern philosophical awareness stem from over
300 LSD trips, and from studies I’ve undertaken for over 30 years including Zen, Taoism and the
teachings of the Ruchira Avatar Adi Da Samraj, Alan Watts, J. Krishnamurti and Sri Poonjaji,
among others.

Beyond the intuition factor discussed earlier, we get into some heady stuff that re-acquaints us with
the gamblers’ penchant for the so-called ‘superstitious.’

Some readers who have studied quantum-physics will recall the hypothesis of “Dr. Schrödinger’s
Cat.” Schrödinger posited that a cat placed into an electrically wired black box which, in turn, was
randomly electrified - only sometimes with enough juice to kill the cat, with the random charges
unknown to the observing experimenter - would result in neither a dead nor a living cat until the
box is opened and the animal’s state observed.
Along similar lines, the next card dealt from the shoe is not pre-determined, at least not in
‘quantum-reality.’ Thus a gambler’s beliefs may very well indeed affect his results.

I once employed my friend and best-selling ‘higher-consciousness’ author Marilyn Ferguson (The
Aquarian Conspiracy, Brain-Mind Bulletin) to channel the late Kenny Uston.

Marilyn channels many “gone-yonders,” as she refers to them, including Joseph Kennedy, John
Rockefeller, Buckminster Fuller, Timothy Leary, and even ‘Jesus of Nazareth,’ whom she
endearingly calls “the J of N.” Her son is a semi-pro poker player, so at his urgings she has even
channeled the late poker legend Johnny Moss.

During the channeling session, Kenny stated that since the time of his “last incarnation,” he has
become “increasingly convinced” of the “connection between state and luck.” Such connection
between ‘state’ and ‘luck’ has been suggested by many mystical and scientific types, alike. This
suggests that a gambler may actually be able to ‘invoke’ a ‘lucky-state’ through meditation, prayer,
self-hypnosis or even neuro-linguistic-programming, perhaps. I don’t know, but I’ll ask my friend
Tony Robbins the next time I see him.

Do you have any concrete results that would justify these concepts?

My results are totally inconclusive, statistically speaking, although chanting Buddhist good-luck
mantras at the blackjack table is certainly good for cover! One of my biggest wins was at the old
Reserve in Henderson while loudly chanting ‘Nam-Myo-Ho-Renge-Kyo.’ Afterwards, a teammate
stepped within earshot of the pit-critters who had been in attendance and overheard them
discussing, “What do you think he was chanting?” to which the other replied, “He was probably
putting a curse on us.”

Does this ‘quantum-reality’ stuff bother your teammates?

A few years ago I was playing in Reno, and there were five of us having a team meeting and I
suggested that perhaps we should all try playing sessions timed according to our daily bio-rhythms
and/or astrological charts. They all got angry and told me to “stop scaring” them! After a bathroom
break I returned to the meeting and challenged them: “Is there anyone here that is totally without
superstition?” In the next moment, one pulled out his rabbit-foot key chain, another produced his
lucky coin, a third had just splashed on his lucky aftershave. A fourth teammate showed his rosary
beads.

As it turned out, I was the only one in the group who wasn’t carrying a ‘talisman’ into play that
night.

Do you really believe in this ‘cosmic consciousness’ stuff?

Oh yes! Fundamentally, the seemingly ‘separate’ and ‘external’ universe is a holographic illusion,
not truly composed of inanimate rocks and matter, but is rather a ‘paradigmatic-realm’ of
unbounded mind and consciousness wherein all things and events are interconnected in infinite
possibility through the eternal here-and-now via the engine of third-dimensional creation: one’s
own cerebral cortex!

By the way, I’ve considered using an expert with a dousing rod to walk the aisles of the BJ pit to
select my table - a potentially great cover ploy... and it just might work!

You are one strange dude, Zengrifter!

Yes, I know, everyone tells me that.

xxx

[sagefr0g]

http://www.blackjackinfo.com/bb/show...&postcount=284

[sagefr0g]

Originally Posted by zengrifter

......

Some readers who have studied quantum-physics will recall the hypothesis of “Dr. Schrödinger’s
Cat.” Schrödinger posited that a cat placed into an electrically wired black box which, in turn, was
randomly electrified - only sometimes with enough juice to kill the cat, with the random charges
unknown to the observing experimenter - would result in neither a dead nor a living cat until the
box is opened and the animal’s state observed.
Along similar lines, the next card dealt from the shoe is not pre-determined, at least not in
‘quantum-reality.’ Thus a gambler’s beliefs may very well indeed affect his results.

....

why would a gambler's beliefs affect his results in the scenerio you describe?
would the scientists's beliefs affect the cats outcome in the experiment?
isn't only the act of observation that collapses the probability wave?

[sagefr0g]

Originally Posted by aslan

.....
This author says there is no such thing as luck:
...

imho the author pushes the limits of one's ability to deal with truly disappointing situations beyond the capacity of most mere mortals.
the hippocampus seems in it's state of evolution or perhaps developement, simply not capable of dealing with misfortune as the author encourages one to believe.
http://www.blackjackinfo.com/bb/show...5&postcount=47
http://www.blackjackinfo.com/bb/show...8&postcount=10