Have you ever refused to walk under a ladder or sidestepped to avoid walking over three drains? Perhaps you throw spilled salt over your left shoulder or ‘touch wood’ after saying something hopeful? Then you my friend, are superstitious.
At least, you were in that moment.
Many of us claim not to be superstitious, but we all have little things we do or don’t do because it makes us feel better.
When it comes to bingo, it tends to attract a higher than average number of superstitious people for some reason. I have seen all sorts in the bingo halls over the years, and I will confess that I even sit in the same place at home every time I play online bingo.
I’m not so barking mad as to do some of the following things out of superstition though!
Lucky Charms
We’ve aaaallll seen people sat at their tables surrounded by bingo tickets and lucky charms, haven’t we?
Whether it’s stuffed animals, special mementos, or even Kinder Egg toys (genuinely seen this), lots of people bring tokens along with them for good luck.
Honestly, sometimes they practically build a shrine around themselves. There are even people who talk to their lucky charms. Seriously. “That was close wasn’t it Johnny” – directed at a miniature plastic troll…
Do these lucky charms work? Of course not. Do they make their owners feel more positive and excited about their chances? Absolutely!
They also bring lots of personality into the room, and serve as a good talking point for anyone who wants to strike up a conversation.
Wearing the Same Outfit
There was one elderly lady I used to see at bingo all the time, and she was always wearing the exact same outfit.
It was nothing special either, just a purple cardigan thrown over a patterned shirt. It looks almost as old as her, and I just assumed she didn’t have much money so wore the same stuff a lot.
How wrong I was.
I bumped into her at Tesco’s one weekend and she was with her husband, buying a bottle of fizz, and looking very glamourous indeed. I said hello but didn’t stop to chat. We weren’t friends at that point.
Next time I saw her at bingo I said “No snazzy outfit today? You looked fabulous when I saw you at the shop the other week”. She proceeded to tell me that she hates wearing that old cardigan, but it’s what she was wearing when she won a jackpot four years ago, and she has worn it to the bingo ever since.
Madness.
Special Dabbers
I know dabbers are increasingly not needed, but that doesn’t stop superstitious types bringing along their favourite for good luck.
You can get all sorts of jazzed up dabbers these days too, so some of them really are quite something.
It’s not so different from a lucky charm really. It’s something a player believes will be lucky for them, and they feel superstitious that playing without it will doom them to failure.
Maybe it’s a dabber someone won big money with in the past, or a diamante covered dauber that was given to them by someone they love.
Whether you call them dabbers or daubers, someone in the bingo hall with you will be clutching onto one that they think brings them luck.
Always Sitting in the Same Seat
Have you ever felt the death stare from someone when you accidentally sat in their seat? Or heard the tuts as they pass behind you.
That’s superstition personified.
By sitting in their ‘lucky’ spot you have damned them to a night of bingo misery. The bingo Gods will smite them for placing their ample behinds elsewhere in the hall, and it’s all because of you!
I’m going over the top here of course, but the lucky seat thing is real. I am partially guilty of it myself as I mentioned earlier.
People like to feel safe, and if they have used the same seat for 10 years without anything bad happening, that seat is going to feel safe to them.
Unlucky Number 13
Seeing the number 13 as unlucky isn’t exclusive to bingo, but as a superstitious bunch bingo players are more than happy to go along with it.
It comes from Judas Iscariot being the 13th person at the Last Supper, so the number is associated with betrayal and misfortune.
Most people who feel superstitious about the number probably don’t know that, but nevertheless, they will do everything they can to avoid tickets with that number on.
It’s silly because every number has the same chance of being called as every other number, but some people aren’t interested in statistics, only gut feelings and emotions.
I heard a story about one woman who would literally throw away any ticket with a 13 on it rather than play it. For her, it wasn’t about that one ticket, it was about the bad luck associated with the number 13. She thought it would tarnish her whole evening if she played with that ticket, even if it won her a small amount. So rather than ‘risk it’, she threw it away.
What a waste of bingo!