Lore Episode 295: Making Your Luck
Host: Aaron Mahnke
Release Date: December 15, 2025
Episode Overview
In “Making Your Luck,” Aaron Mahnke explores the darkly fascinating intersection of games, chance, and the superstitions that shadow the world’s most popular forms of play. From the origins of beloved board games to the ominous legends surrounding playing cards, and the extraordinary cultural significance of lottery “dream books” in Harlem, Mahnke traces how games throughout history have been intertwined with fate, fortune-telling, and the human need for control in a chaotic world. The episode ends with a dramatic historical vignette, recounting the story of three gambling conmen who survived the sinking of the Titanic.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Parlor Games in Wartime and the Birth of Clue
- Anthony E. Pratt, confined to his Birmingham home during the Blitz, reminisces about pre-war murder mystery parties (01:03).
- Seeking escapism amid chaos, Pratt creates a scaled-down version of these games, ultimately inventing the board game Cluedo (Clue in the U.S.), with characters like Colonel Mustard and Professor Plum (02:30).
- Quote (Aaron Mahnke, 02:30): “And with that, the game of Cluedo, or as we call it in the States, Clue, was born. There’s a sort of comfort in knowing that even in the darkest of times, we can always turn to games for a bit of lighthearted escape.”
2. The Ancient Roots of Board Games and Divination
- Archaeological finds demonstrate humans played games as far back as the Neolithic period, often not just for entertainment but divination (05:25).
- Examples:
- The Royal Game of Ur (Mesopotamia, ancestor to backgammon) doubled as a tool for predicting the future based on zodiac-marked squares (07:05).
- Senet (Ancient Egypt), originally a competitive game, evolved into a metaphorical journey for the soul through the afterlife, even adopted for communicating with gods or spirits (09:05).
- Fanarona (Madagascar), from a checkers-like game to a court divinatory ritual guiding royal decisions—famously leading to disastrous hesitation during the French invasion (12:55).
- Quote (Aaron Mahnke, 09:05): “Egyptians had started seeing the piece’s journey across the Senet board as a metaphor for the soul's journey through the underworld and into the afterlife.”
- Examples:
3. Luck, Superstition, and Legendary Hands in Card Games
- The death of Wild Bill Hickok and the mythos of the “Dead Man’s Hand” (two black aces, two black eights, and a fifth card) becoming a symbol of misfortune in poker and American folklore (16:55).
- The “curse” wasn't attached to that actual hand until decades later (18:00).
- Superstitions attached to other playing cards:
- The Four of Clubs, dubbed “the devil’s four poster bed” – origin story involves the devil joining a forbidden Sunday card game (19:20).
- The Nine of Diamonds, called “The Curse of Scotland,” with multiple folkloric explanations, from ill-fated monarchs to connections with the massacre of the MacDonald clan (21:25).
- Widespread poker superstitions include avoiding the left hand, not crossing legs, and a plethora of rituals to either fend off bad luck or attract good (23:05).
- Quote (Aaron Mahnke, 23:25): “Where there’s money on the line, people will grasp at anything that might give them a sense of control over the game’s outcome.”
4. Dreambooks, the Lottery, and Cultural Power
- European lottery “dreambooks” trace back to 15th-century Italy, with La Smorfia offering numbers based on dream imagery (26:05).
- The concept migrates to 19th-century America, finding explosive popularity in Black communities via the illegal “policy” and later, “numbers” games; dreambooks proliferate, often with problematic racist imagery (28:10).
- The Harlem numbers racket empowers African American communities, redistributing wealth and even funding churches and businesses in the face of banking discrimination (31:45).
- Quote (Aaron Mahnke, 31:45): “Harlem numbers kings stepped in as a source of credit for their communities… almost every element of daily life in jazz age Harlem relied on the lottery to exist.”
- The mysterious "Professor Uriah Kong," revealed as Herbert Gladstone Paris, a Barbadian immigrant, authors wildly popular dreambooks tailored for Black lottery players—protecting his intellectual property and amassing wealth (33:10).
- Dreambooks evolve into vehicles for coded messages of Black empowerment and advice, critiquing racism and social injustice through their fortunes:
- “The Lucky Star Dream Book ends with a page addressed to… ‘all oppressed people of the world’, urging them to get an education…” (38:30).
- Selected dream interpretations combine lottery numbers with social commentary, e.g.,
- Dreaming of cotton: “denotes misery and shame.”
- Dreaming of a white man: “signifies lawsuits and also that your liberty is in danger.”
- Dreaming of a person of color: “an excellent dream for all. It promises riches and extraordinary good health…” (39:10).
5. Historical Vignette: Conmen on the Titanic (Final Story)
- The “Gentlemen of the Green Cloth,” aka card-playing conmen George Brereton, Charles Romaine, and Harry Homer, ply their trade aboard luxury steamships (41:44).
- The intricate world of shipboard hustlers: identifying each other through coded phrases and manipulating the cards with devices or sleight of hand.
- Aboard the RMS Titanic, the trio continues their scam until the iceberg strikes; ignoring warnings as their game is at its most lucrative (44:00).
- As panic spreads, the conmen gamble their lives, jumping for a lifeboat—and survive the disaster (46:35).
- Quote (Aaron Mahnke, 46:55): “It was our only chance… I don’t know whether it was manly or not, but we escaped.”
- Mahnke reflects: their risky play “gave a whole new meaning to the phrase stacking the deck.” (48:00)
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
-
On Clue’s creation during wartime (02:30):
“There’s a sort of comfort in knowing that even in the darkest of times, we can always turn to games for a bit of lighthearted escape.” — Aaron Mahnke -
On ancient board games as fortune-telling (07:55):
“One of the world’s oldest games doubled as a fortune telling tool… a sort of ancient Mesopotamian ancestor to backgammon.” -
On card-playing folklore and the Dead Man’s Hand (18:00):
“Historically accurate or not, the dead man’s hand has secured its place in the nightmares of card players worldwide.” -
On superstition as control in chance (23:25):
“Where there’s money on the line, people will grasp at anything that might give them a sense of control over the game’s outcome.” -
On the social role of Harlem’s numbers kings (31:45):
“Almost every element of daily life in jazz age Harlem relied on the lottery to exist.” -
On dreambooks and hidden messages in oppressed communities (38:30):
“The Lucky Star Dream Book ends with a page addressed to… ‘all oppressed people of the world’, urging them to get an education and ending with the lines Education can have as its foundation the changing of social status or the preservation of the status quo. The final choice lies with each and every one of us.” -
Titanic conman survivor recounted (46:55):
“It was our only chance… I don’t know whether it was manly or not, but we escaped.”
Timestamps of Important Segments
- Origins of Clue and Parlor Games: 00:55–03:00
- Ancient Games as Divination Tools: 05:25–12:55
- The ‘Dead Man’s Hand’ and Card Superstitions: 16:55–24:00
- Lottery Dreambooks and the Harlem Numbers Racket: 26:05–37:45
- Empowerment through Dreambooks (incl. selected fortunes): 38:30–40:20
- Conmen on the Titanic: 41:44–48:10
Tone and Style
Aaron Mahnke weaves his stories with a mix of historical curiosity, conversational wit, and subtle social commentary. He balances macabre folklore and whimsy (“Talk about making an exit, right?” [20:15]), always drawing out the deeper human truths lurking behind the superstitions and legends.
Summary Takeaways
“Making Your Luck” demonstrates how games—seemingly trivial diversions—have always been more than entertainment. They've functioned as tools for coping with chaos, predicting the future, and navigating systems of oppression. The episode’s tales—from pharaohs’ tombs to sunken ships and Harlem street corners—remind us superstition is never “just a spooky story,” but often a creative response to powerlessness, a reflection of resilience, and occasionally, the key to survival—or even social transformation.