The Best of Luck

The Best of Luck

by A.M. Murray

Smashwords edition, published by Smashwords

Copyright 2009 A.M.Murray

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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INDEX

PART 1: BEST WAYS TO GET LUCKIER IN LIFE

1. Get Real

2. Probability

3. Serendipity

4. Taking Chances

5. The Extrasensory

6. The Mystical

7. Moneywise

PART II: THE BEST BETS IN GAMBLING

8. Poker

9. Video Poker

10. Blackjack

11. Craps

12. Baccarat

13. Roulette

14. Sports Betting

15. Horse Racing

16. Slot Machines

17. The Lottery

18. Bingo

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PART I

BEST WAYS TO GET LUCKIER IN LIFE

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Chapter 1: GET REAL

Again, I saw under the sun that the race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong nor bread to the wise nor riches to the intelligent nor favor to the men of skill, but time and chance happen to them all. --Ecclesiastes 9:1

If luck didn’t exist, we’d have to invent it.

That’s been said about God too, and luck is a god in mythology because the supernatural seems to be the only answer for the whys and wherefores of some of the gut-wrenching or mind blowing questions of life. Like what do you have to do to win the lottery?

Smile, that’s a joke.

A good sense of humor goes with good luck like the reverse of pride going before a fall.

As for the mythical aspects of luck, they may be intriguing but they’re mostly feelings. Feelings are fickle. Don’t ignore those feelings but don’t bet the farm on them. Better to stick with realism. Let’s examine 3 realities of luck and then show you 3 real ways to improve your luck.

Three is said to be magical number, a theory we’ll examine later. But three is certainly a manageable number and three things are easy to remember so, that’s good.

3 REALITIES OF LUCK

Reality of Luck #1: Luck applies to what has already happened, not what is to come.

Think about it. If you have a stroke of luck or get on a lucky streak, you’re not really aware of it until you’re well into it, until it has already begun or has passed. Maybe everything seems to be going your way today, maybe you found some money on the ground, maybe you just happened on the perfect parking space, maybe you won the lottery. Whatever it is, large or small, you don’t know about it until afterward.

You may hope for luck by carrying around a luck rabbit’s foot or wearing a lucky charm or keeping a St. Christopher’s medal on your rearview mirror or crossing your fingers; but you’re just wishing for luck. You don’t know if it’s really working until after something lucky happens. After the fact. The facts, ma’am and only the facts, that’s the only way to measure real luck, not by wishing.

So what good does this knowledge do you?

Not much, it may seem. But eliminating false and unreliable ideas about luck is part of the process of getting luckier. You want to go with what’s real, with what you know works…or has worked as the case may be. Which leads to…

Reality of Luck #2: To be Lucky, don’t count on it.

Luck is fickle And like a fickle lover, you may love it when it is good and hate it when it is bad but you can’t rely on it in any case. Good luck and bad luck can come to any one at any time, no matter what you do or don’t do. Luck doesn’t care if you’re a good person who deserves a break today. Luck has no feelings.

For no good reason or through no fault or merit of their own people who have been blessed by good fortune can suddenly fall out of favor. Or vice versa. Bad people can have good luck too. It’s frustrating to witness it, but it happens all the time.

So people who really understand luck are ready to make of best of the good when it happens and to minimize the bad. It’s like the old Amish saying: The harder I work, the luckier I get. You can work harder or smarter and should reap the rewards that effort and intelligence bring. You Should. But it’s not guaranteed. So don’t count on it. And especially don’t push it.

Some people are blessed with good fortune and expect it to continue, no matter what.

We are always hearing about movie idols and rock stars and big time celebrities who seem to have such a wonderful life but suddenly and surprisingly get arrested for some outrageous behavior, or overdose on drugs or suffer a bitter break up with their spouses or lovers. What’s the matter with these people, don’t they know how good they have it? Well, they may or they may not but the problem is they feel privileged and expect everything to continue to go their way no matter what. Their lives have been charmed, why shouldn’t it go on that way?

Take Isadora Duncan as an example.

Isadora Duncan? Who’s she?

She was the equivalent of the rock star before there were any rock stars, before Sinatra or Elvis or Madonna or any one-name or multi-name star you can name. She was the most famous and celebrated and well-paid dancer in all the world. Her performances sold out wherever she went. She was blessed with tremendous beauty and grace and style.

But her life ended tragically when she took those attributes for granted and pressed her luck. She was strangled by her long flowing scarf after it got tangled in the spoke wheels of a convertible sports car she was riding in. She was even warned beforehand. Her best friend refused to wear her own long, faddish scarf because it kept getting caught on things. Her friend was lucky because…

Reality of Luck #3: Anticipating Bad Luck is Good, Depending on Good is Bad

That sounds like a contradiction but when you anticipate the worst rather than the best, when the worst comes you’re ready to make the best of it. It’s more than just the glass half-full or glass half-empty argument determining whether you’re an optimist or pessimist. It’s a matter of vision. Of seeing the possible future if you will, and being prepared for it. To be lucky you can’t be misty-eyed and see only the good in things or you’ll be blindsided by the bad. It doesn’t mean you have to go around expecting nothing but doom and gloom. It means you just have to be ready, just in case.

Lucky people know Murphy’s law: Anything that can go wrong will. Eventually. And usually at the worst time. Just your luck.

Take a flat tire as an example. Don’t you hate when that happens? Of course you do. Everyone does. But everyone who drives can expect a flat tire some time or other, even if the tires are always in good condition. This doesn’t mean it will happen, just that it can. And the more you drive, the more likely it is. You can run over a nail or hit a big pothole or the tire can have some kind of internal structural problem and it c can go out for no apparent reason. It’s just your bad luck when it happens. It’s really bad luck if it’s raining or freezing when it does. Lucky for you that you have a good spare tire and know how to put it on. Or have OnStar or Triple A or some other means of salvation. You may say that’s not a matter of luck, it’s preparation. Of course it is. You’re getting it. Being prepared leads to good luck. Not being prepared leads to bad.

3 REAL WAYS TO BETTER LUCK

1. Use the Shotgun Approach.

A shotgun is most effective in hunting game birds and other elusive targets because it doesn’t depend on one bullet to hit or miss. It scatters a large number of pellets over a wide area. It increases your chances of getting a hit.

Apply that same principle to your life and increase the chances of hitting that elusive bird of happiness known as good luck. The more you spread out your efforts, the more things you try, the better your chances of success. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, and lots of things ventured means lots of possible gains.

Of course, even with a shotgun, you have to aim. You have to decide how much time and effort to put into your various ventures and how much reward you can expect for the time and effort and not spread yourself too thin. But don’t rely on any single strategy or any single tactic, any single anything. The luckiest people are rarely single-minded. They try lots of things, they know lots of people, they’re open to a lot of new ideas, they like to play a lot of games. That leads to lots of luck.

It’s simple logic, really, and ties in to the Law of Large Numbers, which rules luck. The larger the number of things you try, the greater the chances that one of them will succeed.

Consider the wisdom of the popular adage: It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. Or words to that effect. It’s true. The more people you know, the more friendly contacts you make, the better the chances one or more of those contacts will lead to a lucky break. How often have you seen that job, that contract, that juicy assignment go not to the person most qualified (you?) but to the person who knows somebody (not you?) – somebody in the good ol’ boy network. That’s why it’s called networking. Join that club, that professional association, that group of like-minded individuals.

Some people complain they were discriminated against because of chauvinism, sexism, racism or ageism.