Aaah, the big one. Lucky (or unlucky) number thirteen. As far as superstition goes (in the western hemisphere at least), 13 is one of the most talked about and respected (or feared) numbers of them all.

Don't go out in the woods today, Jason is still alive and well...

After that dramatic entrance, I promise to stop using parenthesis to counter argue my point (perhaps).

Misquoting Wikipedia slightly, “the number thirteen is the.. number after 12 and before 14″. A remarkable insight.

Getting to the point, 13 is unlucky, here’s a few ways that people try to avoid the number 13:

1. High rise buildings don’t have a 13th floor (although John Malkevic might have the answer to that
2. Friday the 13th makes some people nervous and walk faster down dark streets
3. 13 is the ages at which kids become teenagers – ripe for a slaughtering from Jason
4. Napoleon Bonaparte feared cats (ailurophobia) and the number 13
5. The fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia – sounds Russian to me
6. There is also a superstition, thought by some to derive from the Last Supper or a Norse myth, that having thirteen people seated at a table will result in the death of one of the diners. So you should put an end to showing up fashionably late for your next dinner party
7. An estimated 17 to 21 million people in the United States are affected by a fear of this day
8. There will be 3 occurrences of the number 13 in this year: 2009
9. It may be the most widespread superstition in the United States

Essentially though, it has the exact random level of occurrence as every other number on the Roulette wheel.

Famous brave People with connections to the Number 13:

• Branca, a pitcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers, wore no. 13 and, as legend has it, playfully posed with black cats before the 1951 playoffs began
• Wilt Chamberlain said the number 13 wasn’t unlucky for him, but it was for his opponents. One of the greatest players in the game, he is the only player to score 100 points in a single game. He was named to 13 All-Star teams and his number 13 has been retired by five teams (University of Kansas, Golden State Warriors, Harlem Globetrotters, Los Angeles Lakers, and Philadelphia 76ers)
• Dan Marino, quarterback of the Miami Dolphins wore the number 13
• A-Rod seems to be getting the lucky end of the luckometer, dating (shsssh) Madonna. That’s a home run in my opinion
• The Aztecs also hold the number thirteen sacred and divided their week into thirteen days.  Each day is ruled by a god.  The thirteenth day is ruled by Tezcatlipoca, who represents: Mystery, Psyche, Illusion and Magic. Maybe he could use some of that magic to win Casino Games

When playing Roulette, I see people scramble to nervously place chips on the number 13, and in a small psychologic momentum of sheep-ism, lots of others quickly dump their chips their too, trying to suck up the luck of the original brave soul. It’s something you have to try just to see if it brings you any luck.

News 13 are guranteeing your scariest number! Cash on demand. Try it out and see if your luck is in today. (News 13 Image)

Some quick stats:

• 13 is an odd number
• Doctors in the U.K. discovered that despite attempts to drive less, there were more car accidents that on Friday the 6th than on Friday the 13th
• The medical term for a phobia of Friday the 13th is called paraskevidekatriaphobia

A Roulette Strategy

So my suggest to you would be to try it. Pick two numbers 13 and x and play Roulette online for as long as you can to see which number comes up mor more often. You could even do this for free at Silver Oak Casino or Planet 7 Casino (although the number seven may sway your odds).