Full of chance and uncertainties, casino gaming has its fair share of myths. There are people who believe they can win with trinkets, those who think slot machines run hot and cold, and players who believe they can influence results by sticking with lucky numbers. But perhaps the biggest casino myth of all is the thought that past results can dictate future outcomes. If you think that you might be falling for this myth, make sure to read the truth of the matter below.

Why People think Past Results can help them win

When some people play casino games like baccarat or blackjack, where their bets have close to a 50% chance of winning, they like to keep track of previous results. Using baccarat as an example, these players might keep a running tally of how many times the Banker and Player hands have won. And if the Banker hand were winning a lot, these players would suddenly start wagering on the Player hand more often.

The idea here is that the law of averages is about to take effect any minute and the Player hand will start winning. And this makes sense because the Banker hand wins 45.86% of the time, the Player hand wins 44.62% of the time, and both hands tie at a 9.52% clip. Taking this into account, the Player and Banker hands are pretty close, so using past results makes sense....in theory.

The Reality

Calling on our baccarat example one more time, players should note that the aforementioned winning percentages are long-term figures. In the short-term anything can happen and so past results are basically worthless.

Now some people might say that if the Player hand wins 8 times in a row, the Banker hand is "due" for a win. And while this seems logical, the reality is that the Banker hand still has a 45.86% chance of winning on the next hand. So you're no more likely to experience success by wagering on the Banker hand than you were the round before. And the same thing goes for all casino games.

So does this mean that you should give up any notion of tracking past results to dictate your future play? If you find this to be fun, then by all means continue doing it. After all, playing casino games is all about having a good time. But if you think that past results are the holy grail towards big profits, then you'll be pretty disappointed.