Are $50 Bills Unlucky? | Las Vegas Advisor

Are $50 bills considered to be unlucky in a casino? I was watching the horse racing network TVG when one of the announcers criticized one of the analysts for doing something that is considered unlucky at the track. Another person chimed in, "It's like being paidd or paying in fifty-dollar bills at the track. It's unlucky." A couple days later, I went to a casino in Philadelphia and cashed a ticket for over $500 in the automated machine. I was paid with ten $50s. Never in 28 years of going to Vegas, Atlantic City, and other local casinos have I been paid in $50s. Is it considered unlucky?

This is a question we receive from time to time, but the last time we answered it was in 2018, so here it is again.

How, when, and why this superstition started is lost in the mists of history, but it's certainly real and isn't just limited to the gambling community. Many non-gamblers subscribe to this belief, though it probably started with gamblers (poker players, in particular) and spread from there.

There's another, chicken-and-egg, part of this scenario as well. Partly because they're considered unlucky, not too many $50 bills are in circulation; hence, they become more unusual and unfamiliar, making them even more suspicious to the superstitious.

As to how it all started, there are plenty of stories and theories. One holds that when Bugsy Siegel was killed, the three $50s he had in his pocket were the only cash he was carrying.

There's also a variation; legend has it that when the Mob ran the town and took out a hit on someone, they buried the body with a $50 bill in the jacket pocket of the victim.

A second variation has it that "Wild" Bill Hickock had only $50s on him when he was shot playing the infamous "dead-man's hand" in that Deadwood saloon in 1876. No source we came across could cite support for this account, any more than there's any evidence of the Siegel connection, so we'd bet a $50 of our own that both of these explanations are entirely apocryphal.

Here are some of the other stories we've run across over the years.

At one point, the $50 bill, as opposed to the $100, was primarily targeted by counterfeiters; hence, gamblers chose to avoid accepting them in case they got stuck with fakes.

Another version has it that a dislike of fifty-dollar bills relates to the Civil War and an antipathy for Ulysses S. Grant, who appears on the front of the bill (and didn't have a great record when it came to money and the economy, either).

The most widely circulated theory is that $50s tend to be confused with $5s and/or $20s, leading to a reluctance to use them in transactions for fear of being short-changed.

We have to say that none of these theories strikes us as particularly satisfactory, but they're the ones we've seen and heard.

In the meantime, one thing we can say for sure is this: If you want to remain generally on people's good side in Las Vegas, it's advisable to avoid the paying for anything or tipping with fifties -- superstition or not.

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rokgpsman Apr-11-2022

Maybe it's the image on the $50 bill

A reason I heard for the unlucky perception of a $50 bill is the person on the bill. Ulysses Grant was US president for 8 years, was the Secretary of War (aka Secretary of Defense) for a while and was the highest ranking Army general,he is credited with much of the success the Union Army had during the Civil War. But he went bankrupt in many business ventures, was almost penniless at the end of his life and died a terribly painful death from throat cancer. He had risen to the upper levels of government but was not able to avoid misfortune in the last half of his life. When you hold a $50 bill you are seeing a man that had the worst kind of luck.

Sandra Ritter Apr-11-2022

My Favorite

I like $50 bills. You stand to lose $50 less when you put a $50 in a machine than a $100. When I go to Vegas I bring many $50's since I know I can't get them at the casinos. But I only bring a few days allotment of gambling money, then, if I've gone through what I won, I hit my bank account via debit card. I can't get $50's then.

Kevin Lewis Apr-11-2022

Sir, you insult me

Oh, definitely, if I ever tried to tip someone with a $50 bill, they would be offended by this attempt to foist bad luck on them and would insist on a much luckier $20 bill instead.

Robert Dietz Apr-11-2022

Watching reactions to "Bad Luck"

I am one of those anti-superstition guys. I'm almost superstitious about my lack of superstitions. I always try to have at least one $50 in my wallet when in Las Vegas. I like to see reactions when I pull out $50s for gambling or general use.

Edso Apr-11-2022

I like 50's too

Much like Sandra, I prefer to play with $50s, for much the same reason.  But when I withdraw money from the bank ATM, not the casino one, it gives me the option to get 50s, which is nice. I never get money from the casino ATM because they charge that damn fee.

Reno Faoro Apr-11-2022

$50  BILLS

my 'EXPERIENCE ' took place  at CIRCUS-CIRCUS , at the window  , i was trying to 'condense my bills , i asked for a $50 !!! cashier  informed  me of the superstition . yes , i refused , ty , tyvm .

Croupe Apr-11-2022

Why I don’t like $50s

Here’s why I don’t like $50s…. Say I have a bankroll that has $100, $50, and $20 bills and that bankroll is sorted from biggest to smallest bills.  When I go to count that bankroll, if I have an even number of $50s, no problem - so I have say 3 $100, 2 $50, and 10 $20s - In my head I count 1,2, $300 - 1,2  $400 - 1,2,3,4 $500 - 1,2,3,4 $600. Easy peasy. 

Now take out one of the $50s and my count goes … 1,2,$300 - $50 - $70 -$90 -$410, $30, $50 ………. Takes forever.

Jeffrey Small Apr-11-2022

Good 50s

Since a $ 50 Bill buys what a $ 20 bill used to buy I carry them all the time.  I think the Bureau. of Engraving and Printing should also start printing $ 500 and $ 1,000 bills again.  With all the computer power that we now have, every time one of the big bills hits a bank the depositor could be recorded--making large bills impossible to "launder".  Big bills would make it easier to deal with large sums wagered in the casino.

Randall Ward Apr-11-2022

50s

I've heard this for years but routinely get them at the cage

O2bnVegas Apr-11-2022

US Grant

History has it (?) that Pres. Grant drank a lot.  Not that everyone who drinks gets throat cancer, but if they also smoke that's double the risk.  Maybe for poor money management, too.

My ATM at home started spitting out fifties about 2-3 years ago.  At first I thought it was just an aberation for the day.  So I have to either go inside the bank or sit in the drive through to get C-notes, or put up with the fifties.  No big deal.

VegasVic Apr-11-2022

Superstition

The only real superstition in a casino is when I turn from the craps table to eyeball a hot cocktail waitress when I look back the shooter will have sevened out.  Every. Damn. Time.  Fortunately(?) the quality of cocktail waitresses has gone way down in recent years. Saves me money.

jay Apr-11-2022

JCM

JCM, Japanese Cash Machine is the maker of many of the bill validators for Slots - DBV (dollar bill validator) and WBA (World Bill validator) are used in the likes of IGT and Bally and likely many others. I know that in 2012 shortly after the new colored 50 was introduced JCM had an issue where a older 5.00 bill could be altered and when inserted into a machine it would register as $50 instead of a $5. It was unclear at the time which series of validators were impacted by this resulted in a field notice to casinos to turn off validation for the new $50s. For anyone complaining the floor people were told to tell people $50's were unlucky vs identifying a underlying vulnerability that may have not been uniformly addressed across all properties. 

It turned out the vulnerability only impacted the new WBAs that used UV light to detect a yellow UV security thread and could be faked on a $5 by simply using a yellow highlighted across the bill in the right spot.

Andyb Apr-11-2022

Royal Flush

LOL My last 2 dollar royals were hit with a fifty dollar bill in the machine playing bonus poker. One at GVR the other at Pala in so Cal.  I love 50s as it saves my hundreds I don't put in. LOL

Weko Apr-11-2022

Why not $50s

One other reason is that cashiers generally don’t have any place to put them in the cash drawer, thus they get mixed in with the 100s. Same goes with the newer dollar coins

AL Apr-11-2022

Superstitions

I try not to put people down, because the world is already a tough-enough place, but I have to say that I find most superstitions pathetic. "Friday the 13th is unlucky." Says WHO? Why believe everything you are told? Friday the 13th has actually always been a GOOD day for me, except for one neutral day, never a bad day. OK, about the $50 bill: I had never even heard until last year that there were bad vibes about $50 bills. Nothing that has been said in the article-response or the Comments has provided any validation for the notion that $50 bills are unlucky. I've always considered them to be just another denomination, like $20's and $100's. I've never felt there was anything negative about them, and I still don't. I find them useful for paying for groceries, as I normally average about $50 worth when I go. As for ATM's, I have Wells Fargo, and when I withdrew $320, it asked me how I wanted it; I pressed "mixture of $50's and $20's", and it gave me 6 $50's, 1 $20 -- not what I wanted.

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