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.
