I use to have a lucky charm. It was a toe ring. I wore it on my baby toe. An old boyfriend of mine had given it to me. It was a cheap little thing. I don't know why I even wore it. Call me sentimental.

The first night I wore it to a casino I won at the roulette table. I was betting straight-up on 33. It hit 3 times out of the 10 times I played. I walked away after the third hit.

The next night I wore the toe ring to the casino I decided to play the slots. I'm not much for playing the slots. Too much exercise and not enough pay out. But for some reason I decided to play. An hour into playing I was a hundred dollars down. But then I hit the 3 cherries. And it was a Progressive Jackpot machine I was playing. I walked out of the casino after hitting that jackpot.

The third time I wore the toe ring was to a Poker Party my good friend Rachel was hosting. Just 5 girls getting together for a few drinks, a little gossip and a night of Texan Holdem. All of us were serious gamblers. By serious I mean - we played to win. And we were very competitive with each other. All 5 of us were very good players and when we did get together to play poker very rarely did anyone come away a big winner.

That night I couldn't do any wrong. The cards came my way and when they didn't my bluffing was impeccable. That evening I walked away with over 5 thousand dollars.

A short time after that my lucky charm broke. Like I said, it was a cheap little thing. I'm not sure why I think of it as a lucky charm. I had won at gambling many times before the charm and many times since. I guess I am like most gamblers - superstitious.

But the best lucky charm I have ever had has been my gambling systems and my brain. I would never give those up for a toe ring or a rabbit's foot or any other superstitious charm.

Copyright 2006 Pamela Pompeii. All rights reserved.

About the author:

Pamela Pompeii is the resident article writer at http://www.gambleonthis.com