Could a psychic break the bank at Monte Carlo?

In a word: “no”. And over the next few paranormal paragraphs we’ll be telling you precisely why.

Of course, the evidence is there for all to see from the outset. If these masters and mistresses of supernatural powers really were able to see into the future, and even have an influence over events, they would probably all be living in multi-million pound mansions and featuring prominently in the Paradise Papers as the lid’s blown off their offshore investment strategies.

Just imagine if you or I had the ability to predict the next number to come up on a roulette wheel or the next sequence of cards in a game of blackjack. Wouldn’t it be hard not to exploit this power for considerable personal gain?

Of course, if you were to challenge the average psychic and asked them if they’re quite so good then why aren’t they joining the high rollers in Las Vegas or Monte Carlo they’d probably come up with the stock answer that they can “only use their powers for good”. Some might even claim that these same powers would be lost if they started to use them for personal gain – a clearly unsustainable argument given that very few psychics will offer any of their services for free.

Random results that speak for themselves

Roulette, the ultimate game of chance

But the real truth of the matter is that anyone with a claim to psychic powers knows that any attempt to prove them in a casino environment is futile. All they’ll be able to demonstrate is their complete inability to either predict or influence the outcome of any casino game.

That’s because the action is genuinely random, whether you’re playing in a real casino or online, and no one can possibly have any knowledge of what’s going to happen next. Yes, people have studied odds theory to help them at least have an idea about probabilities and in blackjack there’s something called the basic strategy that can guide a player about whether it’s better to take an extra card in certain situations. And yes, there’s counting cards, and knowing which way a roulette table leans and therefore how likely certain numbers are to come up – but these are still a long way from using psychic powers to win.

Besides, it’s this anticipation of the unknown that gives casino play that essential frisson of excitement that draws in the gamblers time after time. Psychics everywhere struggle to beat online casinos; they are often seen as tougher to read due to the intangible nature of them. Online casinos leave the players unaware of the physical location of the casino and the games use sophisticated computer software. For example, visiting the live casino section of 888casino might be suited to psychics more, they can read the body language of the dealers and attempt to beat the various games through their ‘talent’, the live games are very similar to visiting a land-based casino, leaving psychics with the opportunity to put their skills to use and try to win some money on the impressive live roulette and the other exciting live casino games.

Even when it’s played online rather than in a land-based casino, a great deal of the appeal is seeing that little white ball slowly circling the wheel until it drops into a number and the lucky winners start to celebrate. There’s no way on earth that any psychic could have a vision of just where that ball will land or who will walk away a winner.

Shaken, not stirred

Sean Connery as Bond

That’s not to say that strange phenomena don’t sometimes occur at the roulette table and one such incident features someone who would go on to be forever associated with playing for high stakes in the world’s most famous casinos – the ultimate James Bond, Sean Connery.

In 1963, when Connery was still a young and relatively unknown actor he was playing at the Casino de la Vallée in St. Vincent, Italy. He placed a bet on the number 17 . . . and lost. He held his nerve and made the same bet on the next spin, still nothing. But he persisted and with the next play it did come in – winning him 35 times his stake. But he didn’t cash it in, he kept all of his winnings on 17 and it came up again, and again the next spin too. As a result he found himself over 17 million lire richer (that’s about £160,000 in today’s money) having beaten odds of 1:50653 to do it.

Was there any psychic energy in the room that night guiding his counter-intuitive actions? No one will ever know for sure – but it’s pretty unlikely!.

High profile no-shows

Uri Geller fails to bend spoons on the Johnny Carson Show:

Getting back to the subject of self-proclaimed ‘psychics’, the very fact that none have tried to stage a major event in a casino to prove their powers is also surely evidence enough that they could have no influence over any casino games.

Let’s take the examples of two of the highest profile self-proclaimed psychics of the last few decades, Uri Geller and James Hydrick. Both had reputations forged by making many TV appearances over the 1970s and 80s – and both tasted the bitter disappointments of being proven as frauds.

If ever there was as performer likely to try his skills in a casino it would have been Geller but, perhaps sensing certain failure, he concentrated on bending spoons instead – until presented with cutlery he hadn’t had a chance to weaken first on the Johnny Carson show. It was a disaster as the spoons remained unbent – and his career took a nosedive.

Hydrick’s schtick was being able to supposedly move objects by thought power alone – possibly very handy when it came to directing a roulette ball to the desired number. But the famous skeptic James Randi managed to prove that Hydrick was, in fact, just blowing on objects to give the impression of telekinesis – thus blowing his cover, too.

James Randi exposes James Hydrick:

Just an illusion?

Famous illusionist, Derren Brown

More recently, illusionists Derren Brown and David Blaine have pulled off tricks purporting to predict lottery numbers but, while no one can be 100% sure exactly how they’ve managed it, many theories abound about the level of trickery involved, with no one suggesting that a psychic influence had come into play.

All this has to be good news for the rest of us “mere mortals” who want to go to the casino confident that we have just as much chance of winning as the next person. We can also be sure that there are no dark forces at work as the industry is one of the most closely regulated there is.

So if anyone approaches you with a tale about how their mystical powers can unlock great fortunes for you at blackjack or roulette, poker or craps – just let them down gently and send them on their way!

Summary

Psychics claim to be able to predict events and even influence them, but could this really work in a casino? Probably not, as all of the outcomes of games like roulette and blackjack are completely unpredictable and impossible to influence. Strange things have happened, like when 17 came up three times in a row for Sean Connery when playing roulette. But the fact that even the highest profile psychics have never won or tried to take on a casino is fairly conclusive proof that it’s not possible.