History Main / ParanormalGamblingAdvantage

** ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'', part of Celeste's talent as the Ultimate Gambler is being BornLucky, but in a manner specific to games of chance. Her talent never becomes plot-important because of its narrow scope; unlike the Ultimate Lucky Students, her luck is average outside of the [[CripplingOverspecialization narrow scope]] of gambling games. Manipulating the events of the Killing Game is beyond her talent.

** "The Royale" shows that he's also good at craps, by way of using his SuperStrength to subtly alter the dice to fall in his favor.

A sub-trope of MundaneUtility, in that gambling in itself is a common activity in RealLife. Compare to MuggleSportsSuperAthletes, where people use superpowers in games of physical skill rather than luck and probability. Related to CompoundInterestTimeTravelGambit, which uses similar inside knowledge for savings and investments. Compare BornLucky, in which a character always wins at gambling because they were, well, born lucky

* One issue of ''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'' establishes that many casinos employ low-level psychics to scan customers and make sure they don't have powers. One casino rigs their major poker tournaments by hiring a psychic who can read other player's minds to see their cards. Fortunately Daredevil is [[DisabilityImmunity immune]] because he [[HandicappedBadass can't see his cards]], and plays by using his SuperSenses to read when other people are bluffing, in another example of this trope. Unfortunately, to maintain his cover, he can't let the psychic know that he's blind, and he ends up fighting the psychic in a BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind.

** ''Spectacular Spider-Man Volume 2, #21'' shows Peter using his SpiderSense to win in an annual superhero poker game for charity.
** In one storyline, a dying Peter considers using his spider sense to make a fortune in Las Vegas.
** ''ComicBook/TheChameleonConspiracy'': Jamie Tolentino has been using the Clairvoyant computer to win games at The Palace. He made sure to lose just enough games so as not to draw attention to himself and reveal his advantage. Unfortunately, the computer has been running low on power and Jamie's very real losses have resulted in him being in debt to Chance, who knows about the Clairvoyant.
* In ''ComicBook/WolverineAndTheXMenMarvelComics'' the Jean Grey School needs a some quick funds to keep the school running, so Logan forces the telepathic Quentin Quire accompany him to what's basically an intergalactic Las Vegas. Such a place safeguards against cheating by using a telepath detecting, [[ReadingsBlewUpTheScale which soiled itself before dying]] when it detected Quentin, who is Omega level.

* ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'': One strip has Lois Lane tell Superman they're playing cards with the neighbors that week, and if Clark doesn't use his XRayVision they won't bring the kryptonite.

* In the MLP fanfic [[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/380107/gambling-foals Gambling Foals]], Pinkie Pie uses her 'Pinkie Sense' to win money on a gambling wheel. (She doesn't last long before being escorted to the owners.)
* A Literature/{{Discworld}} fic by Creator/AAPessimal sees a luckless addicted gambler have an epiphany. He has heard that the goddess, She Who Cannot Be Named, known as the Lady, is capricious. If called by name, she brings misfortune and doom - the opposite quality to the one she is invoked for. He takes the logic a step further. For every God there is an Oh God, an Anti-God. The Discworld runs on opposites. Therefore there must also be a goddess of Ill-Fortune and Bad luck out there. If... The Lady... brings bad luck when her true name is invoked. Then The Other Lady must logically be constrained to give good fortune and good luck when invoked. the Gambler discovers She is called [[SdrawkcabName Anutrof]]. It works. Placing trust in the goddess Anutrof brings unfailing good luck. Right up to the day when she manifests in person.
* How Kaiba realizes that Joey's ghost is not a hallucination in ''Fanfic/BeingDeadAintEasy''. Kaiba is the only living person who [[ISeeDeadPeople can see Joey's ghost]], and since he recently witnessed Joey's sudden and violent death protecting Kaiba, he chalks up Joey's hauntings as hallucinations. It's only when Kaiba plays a game of Duel Monsters and Joey accurately tells Kaiba his opponent's hand does he acknowledge that something supernatural is going on.

* ''Film/{{Dreamscape}}''. Alex Gardner uses his psychic abilities to make money by betting on horse races.
* ''Film/Next2007'': Chris Johnson uses his ability to see the future to work as a psychic and to win big in the casinos he frequents and works in, as well as to avoid the security team when he has a vision of being detained for cheating.

* In ''Film/XTheManWithTheXRayEyes'', the protagonist uses his abilities to clean up at the blackjack table. Turns out it's easy to win if you always know what card is next. However, he's far too obvious (to the point of calling out the next card before it's flipped) and he gets kicked out by security.

* Creator/RobertAHeinlein examples:
** ''Lost Legacy'': the first chapter, "Ye Have Eyes to See With" has a character who "made his stake for law school" as a professional gambler courtesy of being able to see both sides of his opponent's cards if he could see either side.
** Short story "Project Nightmare". Two of the people with psychic abilities use them to win at gambling: a soldier nicknamed "Two-Gun" and a professional gambler called "Even-Money Karsch".
* In Creator/RoaldDahl's ''Literature/RevoltingRhymes'', the seven dwarves are ex-jockeys with a gambling addiction. Snow White steals the queen's mirror, allowing them to know the winning horse every time.

* ''Literature/TheWonderfulStoryOfHenrySugar'', also by Dahl, is about a man who gains XRayVision, and uses it to win at cards at a casino. However, he realizes that [[NoChallengeEqualsNoSatisfaction there is no thrill in winning so easily]], so he starts [[MoneyToThrowAway tossing his winnings from his apartment to passerbys]]. He is chastised by a cop, who suggests that Henry donates it to a charitable organization. It is then that Henry decides to continue gambling at casinos with his power and to use his winnings to open well-financed orphanages all over the world.

* Keita Mori, the titular ''Literature/TheWatchmakerOfFiligreeStreet'', [[spoiler: has a form of claivoyance]]. This makes him unbeatable in games of skill, but not in games of chance, since there the outcomes are random [[spoiler: and he can't see those.]] He apparently once won a house in a card game.
* In ''Literature/WitchesAbroad'', Granny Weatherwax doesn't use magic to win at Cripple Mister Onion, or -- to Nanny's surprise -- even ordinary cheating (although she ''does'' use magic to counteract her opponents' cheating). However, the ''reason'' she's so good at the game is because she used to play against Old Mother Dismass and "You sit up every night dealing Cripple Mister Onion with someone who's got a detached retina in her second sight and you soon learn how to play."

* '' Series/SevenDays1998''. Frank has a gambling addiction so tries to cash in on his backstepping through time. The problem is whenever he backsteps he creates a new timeline so whatever game he's betting on [[ButterflyOfDoom might not turn out the way he remembered.]]

* ''Series/ChuckleVision'': Defied. In "Tomorrows News" the brothers' exploits to gather newspapers for recycling somehow results in them gaining a copy of tomorrow's newspaper. Upon realising that it's genuine, Paul immediately tries to look up the football results to place a series of bets and win a lot of money. Barry, however, argues he can't do that. Paul agrees, [[ComicallyMissingThePoint as he's thinking too small scale]], and instead looks for the lottery results. Barry, however, manages to prevent him, insisting they should use the information to warn people in advance.

* ''Series/DeepSpaceNine''. In "Visionary", Chief O'Brien finds himself traveling five hours into the future at random intervals, so Quark tries to convince him to take a peek at the Dabo wheel while he's in the future. O'Brien is exasperated at his SkewedPriorities, but at the end of the episode he can't help trolling Quark by telling him the wheel's going to hit Dabo a second before it does.

-->'''Chiana:''' There's a--there's a cheat-proof game at the casinos. A mercury droplet; it bounces off an ion stream. And there's a thousand different outcomes.
-->'''John:''' You won.
-->'''Chiana:''' Seven times, in a row. They arrested me. They took my winnings. [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil They had a little fun]] and then a little torture... [[DarkAndTroubledPast Nothin' new.]]

* '' Series/OdysseyFive''. Kurt Mendel tries to cash in on their MentalTimeTravel by betting big on a football game, only it turns out differently from how he remembered. He speculates afterwards that one of the football players heard of the big bet and this put enough stress on him to negatively affect his performance.
* ''Series/StargateAtlantis'': In the AlternateRealityEpisode "Vegas", a Wraith is hiding on Earth using prosthetics to appear human and gathering funds by playing poker. Since Wraith are a highly telepathic species, he always wins. [=McKay=] points out that it's also less risky than to rob a bank since the Wraith is specifically trying to avoid detection.
* Defied by Geordi in ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''. He's blind, so he uses a high-tech VISOR that makes him able to "see" and also gives him the ability to see in different light spectrums. But he doesn't use it during the weekly senior officer's poker game, though he admits he will peek ''after'' the hand is over from time to time.
-->'''Geordi:''' Maybe next time you should bring a deck that's not transparent to infrared light.
** Also defied by Data. The episode "Cause and Effect" shows that he's fully capable of stacking a poker deck without anyone noticing he's done it, though he never (intentionally) does it in games played with his fellow crewmates.

** In "Time After Time" whilst hunting Chronos the Greek god of Time, who has made a life for himself in 1944, it turns out the god is paying for his lifestyle by using his precognition powers to bet on races he knows the outcomes to. [[PopCulturedBadass Dean]] even refers to it as "using the [[Film/BackToTheFuturePartII Biff strategy]]."
** Defied by the warlock Patrick in "The Curious Case of Dean Winchester". He plays with people [[AbsurdlyHighStakesGame for years and not money]] and usually wins. Sam speculates he's simply reading people's minds, but Patrick denies it, stating there wouldn't be any fun in that. He's just become ''that'' good at it due to his centuries of experience.

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS2E46AMostUnusualCamera A Most Unusual Camera]]", a camera lets the protagonists win betting on horse races, but all three of them are dead by the end of the episode.

* A spoof of the ''Film/SpiderMan1'' movies in ''Magazine/{{MAD}}'' magazine had his SpiderSense getting him kicked out of every casino in Atlantic City.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'', Link replays the same three days over and over. The lottery in Clock Town will always have the same winning numbers, so Link can keep winning.
* Subverted in ''VideoGame/SamAndMax Save the World''. In the third episode, "The Mole, the Mob, and the Meatball," Sam must beat Leonard Steakcharmer in Indian Poker to win the money needed to buy a "[[LiteralSurveillanceBug listening device]]". Players can only see their opponent's card and must bet on if their own card is higher, and Leonard will always bet only if his card actually is higher, claiming he has a sixth sense. [[spoiler:In actuality, he can see his card reflected in the nose of one of the clowns decorating the casino. Upon realizing it, Sam can use it to his advantage.]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''Webcomic/{{Archipelago}}'': Raven is a spirit tethered to Blitz, and only Blitz can see or hear him at first. Raven takes advantage of this to cheat at cards, standing behind the Luck brothers and telling Blitz which cards to play.

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': In "The Runaway", a gambler convinces Fire Nation citizens to play a game in which they must guess which of three shells contains a pebble. However, Toph's ability to [[BizarreAlienSenses sense vibrations through the ground]] via [[DishingOutDirt earthbending]] lets her deduce that the con artist actually hides the pebble inside his sleeve whenever he shuffles the shells. When she agrees to participate, she uses her earthbending powers to knock the stone back inside her chosen shell, thus ensuring her victory.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': In "How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back", Bender cheats at poker by wearing a pair of x-ray specs. However, he gives himself away when he mentions that one of the players has a tapeworm.

* Happens twice in ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure''
** ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders'': In a battle of wits between Daniel J. D'Arby, whose Stand Osiris steals people's souls after they admit defeat in their heart which he uses to great effect in various gambling games, and hero Jotaro Kujo, whose Stand Star Platinum moves faster than the eye can see, D'Arby believes he has Jotaro on the ropes after having a blackmailed bystander intentionally deal Jotaro a bad hand in a game of poker while knowing he has a winning hand himself. However, Jotaro never looks at his cards and constantly uses Star Platinum's abilities for mundane tasks while he constantly ups the ante, leading D'Arby to believe Jotaro has used Star Platinum to out cheat him by switching all his cards around to a winning hand despite knowing that his opponent cheating would mean they automatically forfeit their soul through Osiris. D'Arby ultimately goes catatonic and all his victims are freed, [[spoiler:without learning that Jotaro was bluffing the entire time and never bothered to look at his hand as he knew D'Arby had cheated from the start and one look at the bad hand would have meant instant defeat, making all of this an aversion.]]
*** A later encounter with D'Arby's younger brother Telence T. D'Arby follows a similar path, with Telence's Stand Atum having similar abilities to Osiris, but Atum also has mind-reading abilities so long as it follows a yes or no question. Telence's preferred games are video games, where the outcome can't readily be modified by cheating or Stand abilities, so he instead cheats by reading the other player's mind to outfox them at the game. [[spoiler:He meets his end when playing a game against Jotaro whose mind doesn't match what is happening in the game. Jotaro has figured out Telence's mind-reading abilities and has coordinated with his grandfather Joseph Joestar to cheat by having Joseph play the game for him through his Stand Hermit Purple's vines.]]
** ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable'': Hero Josuke Higashikata, having befriended the mysterious Mikitaka Hazekura who claim to be an alien with VoluntaryShapeshifter abilities, asks Mikitaka to assume the shape of three dice. The two new friends then play dice with Rohan Kishibe in order to cheat some free cash out of him.
* Yami Yugi from ''Anime/YuGiOh'' has this as an explicit power. Even before the franchise became absorbed by the card game, Yami Yugi had the ability to pull out miracle moves to swing the game in his favor even when all hope seemed lost. He's only lost three times in the series, and only one of those were counted as legitimate. In general, TheMagicPokerEquation is something of an implicit law.

* In one ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' comic series, a Jedi who survives [[ThePurge Order 66]] comments on how his master once commented that someone who could use the Force could become very rich in gambling, and he intends to do just that and then go deep into hiding.
** [[Main/FaceHeelTurn Fallen Jedi]] Lycan demonstrates this advantage in the ''Nomad'' series of ''ComicBook/StarWarsTales''. Except he's not subtle at all with his cheating, winning thirteen times in a row and then causing both dice to land on edge ''in the middle of the table'' when betting his winnings against a starship. The bouncers take notice, promising to give Lycan an [[Main/ElectricTorture "electric barbecue"]] before handing what's left of him over to the annoyed gamblers. Unfortunately, Lycan doesn't give them the chance and [[Main/SoftspokenSadist calmly demonstrates how easily he could kill with The Force]]. Everyone in the casino, barring one croupier, ends up dead.
--->'''Lycan:''' Cash in my chips, take them to my ship on docking bay 24B. Now. [[Main/YouWillBeSpared Do this and I will let you live.]]

* ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/4286250/chapters/30782331 Shadow Balance]]'' posits that [[Anime/YuGiOh Jounouchi's]] good luck is because a latent Shadow Magic user. The heroes only notice when he plays pachinko and wins every round (which [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome gets him kicked out]]), but in hindsight, Bakura points out that the only times he played a gambling card and lost was when he was facing another Shadow Magic user.
* In [[https://golden-sun-the-lost-comics.tumblr.com/post/116868837821/part-time-heroes-full-time-dorks this]] ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'' 4-Koma, Garet and Isaac attempt to cheat at dice using the Move Psyenergy. The ref notices and declares the win invalid.

* ''Film/XMenOriginsWolverine'': Chris Bradley hosts a carnival game in which participants have three chances to make a lightbulb go off. A woman tries turning off the switch, disconnecting the wires, and removing the lightbulb from its socket, but fails and storms away furiously after losing her money. As it's revealed later, Chris is a technopath and can mentally generate electricity to ensure the lightbulb never goes out.

* Creator/FritzLeiber's short story "Gonna Roll the Bones" in ''Literature/DangerousVisions'', is about a character who has some kind of extraordinary ability to throw things in a perfect way, notably to get whatever dice roll he wants.

* In the ''Literature/ForgottenRealms'' short story "Games of Chance" by Elaine Cunningham, Elaith Craulnober's casino is visited by an inventor who has a device that alters probability. It does not end well for him.

** The episode "Cause and Effect" shows that in most cases he deliberately avoids stacking the poker deck, even to his own disadvantage, but the final segment of the episode shows that he's entirely ''capable'' of doing so.

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' episode "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS2E57ThePrimeMover The Prime Mover]]". A man with {{telekinesis}} is used by a professional gambler to win big at dice games and roulette in Las Vegas.

* ''VideoGame/MassEffect'' mentions in the [[AllThereInTheManual Codex]] that [[MindOverMatter biotics]] sometimes abuse their powers, such as cheating at roulette.

* {{Downplayed| trope}} example in ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}''. Qrow plays cards with Clover and consistently loses as his Semblance grants him bad luck while Clover's grants him good luck, giving Clover a much greater advantage. Fortunately, the two didn't appear to be betting anything and it was just a friendly game.
* While he's not exactly [[Administrivia/TropesAreFlexible paranormal]], Kitten the genetically enhanced superhuman from ''WebAnimation/IfTheEmperorHadATextToSpeechDevice'' rigs a coin toss by [[ImprobableAimingSkills shooting the coin]] in midair.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* In ''Webcomic/ArthurKingOfTimeAndSpace'', Lancelot cannot lose any contest due to having God's favor. In the Western arc, Arthur sees him playing poker and is surprised that a religious man like him is gambling, and Guenevere replies that, for Lancelot, it's not a gamble.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'': MechanicalLifeform Smokescreen has a built-in wire that overrides non-sentient machinery. He manipulates a slot machine to his benefit and lets it all ride on one last bet. But one of the casino workers notices his wire and pulls it loose.

* ''Fanfic/AGameOfCatAndCat'': Jun Kurosu of ''VideoGame/Persona2'' is a Persona User, someone with the power to summon a GuardianEntity that is InvisibleToNormals. His boss chides him for using it to cheat at cards with a coworker (mistakenly calling it a [[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventure Stand]]).
* Thorax uses his ability to sense emotions in games of poker to detect the other players' moods, make a guess at their hand, and decide the best course of action in ''[[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/451065/the-amulet-job The Amulet Job]]''. He still needs to throw a round every now and then so the other players don't think he's cheating.

* ''Series/TwinPeaks'': In "The Return", after Agent Cooper returns from the Black Lodge into the material world, he wanders into a casino and sees supernatural omens indicating which slot machine is primed for a super-jackpot. It's a bit unclear if it's simply foresight or if the machines are being deliberately reprogrammed by his friends from the other side, since he ends up winning about ''50 times in a row''. More realistically, the casino's owners immediately fire the manager because he didn't kick him out before he walked off with millions of dollars and later attempt to murder Cooper. Even if they can't prove he's cheating, the odds of his winning streak are so unbelievable that they damn well know he did.

* ''TabletopGame/MageTheAscension:'' There are three effects for gambling, and all rely on the Entropy Sphere. The first rank is automatic probability calculation (such as the odds of winning a poker hand). The second rank, combined with rank 2 Time, allows the user to foresee the most likely event. The third rank of Entropy allows a Mage to just make the machine give them a winning result.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}:'' Nudge the Odds is a spell that enhances the user's skill at gambling. The catch is that it turns a physical feature of the user like their iris or a lock of their hair gold, which [[GlamourFailure can't be concealed using magic]]. As every village on Golarion will have at least one professional magic user on average, [[AwesomeButImpractical don't bother]]. Magic is common enough that the odds that you'll be caught are [[CantGetAwayWithNuthin quite high]], and it's only a minor boost.

* Any player who takes advantage of SaveScumming while gambling is technically altering the space-time continuum to maximize profit.
* An interesting and meta/borderline [[BreakingTheFourthWall 4th wall breaking]] [[DefiedTrope Defiance]] of this trope occurs in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' where loading disables gambling for 60 seconds as the casino takes anti-cheating measures (if it's a roulette table, the croupier checks the wheel for bias. If it's blackjack the dealer breaks out a new deck of cards and shuffles it, if it's a slot machine it "resets" itself).
** As part of the game's {{Deconstruction}} of the LuckStat which now represents the ability to calculate probability, the [[PlayerCharacter Courier]] can get a cybernetic Luck implant in their brain that helps with that. That's right, you can become a {{cyborg}} as a way to [[MundaneUtility cheat]] in casinos ([[VoodooShark which somehow affects]] slot machines).
** In the [[VideoGame/Fallout1 first]] and [[VideoGame/Fallout2 second]] games the LuckStat was more [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane ambiguous]] in what it represented, and it could be increased in the first game through playing UsefulNotes/TarotCards and in the second game through a "Zeta Scan" from the local ChurchOfHappyology. But this had a legitimate, if small, increase in favorable gambling odds (A case of [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve hand clapping]]?).

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* ''Webcomic/GenocideMan:'' During a Poker match aboard a ship they're using for travel, Giri uses her Empathic powers to be as misleading as possible to the other players, leading them to make or withdraw bets nearly at her will. She even beats Jacob, who has plenty of experience and one of the best Poker faces in existence.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' movie ''[[Recap/FuturamaM4IntoTheWildGreenYonder Into the Wild Green Yonder]]'' Fry uses his newfound telepathy to cheat at a poker tournament, while Bender loads up on lucky charms (most notably, the Donbot's lucky robot's foot). In the last hand, Bender wins by ''not'' looking at his hand, which turns out to be all four kings plus a coaster labeled "King of Beers" that got shuffled into the deck by accident, beating Fry's four aces.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}:'' Nudge the Odds is a spell that enhances the user's skill at gambling. The catch is that it turns a physical feature of the user like their iris or a lock of their hair gold, which [[GlamourFailure can't be concealed using magic]]. As every village on Golarion will have at least one professional magic user on average, [[AwesomeButImpractical don't bother]]. Magic is common enough that the odds that you'll be caught are [[NoFairCheating quite high]], and it's only a minor boost.

In practice, things are more complicated, especially if the author wants to deliver AnAesop about how {{cheaters never prosper}}. A character who uses their abilities to make just enough money to get by might do better in the long run.

* ''Manga/SpyXFamily'': A raffle is rigged by the raffle holder so that his girlfriend gets the grand prize for a cruise, with only both of them knowing that the winning ticket is stuck to the top of the box on the inside. Anya, who is in line before said girlfriend, uses her {{telepathy}} to read the raffle holder's mind and promptly fishes out the winning ticket from the box, earning her and Loid the cruise trip.

* The Device family in ''Series/GoodOmens'' is incredibly wealthy thanks to their ancestor Agnes Nutter, a witch who could see the future. Agnes left them a book of accurate but strange predictions, including "an apple no man can eat" as a sign to invest money. Translated, it means, "buy stocks in Apple".

* In 2007's ''Film/{{Next}}'', Chris Johnson uses his ability to see the future to work as a psychic and to win big in the casinos he frequents and works in, as well as to avoid the security team when he has a vision of being detained for cheating.

* ''VideoGame/IWasATeenageExocolonist'': A one-time event has someone offer to wager Kudos, the setting's currency, in a card game. From the perspective of the PlayerCharacter, their entire life is a GroundhogPeggySue and the player can choose how a key moment in the card game goes if it's at least the second time they are playing through the event.

* In ''LightNovel/IsItWrongToTryToPickUpGirlsInADungeon'', Bell's "Luck" Development Ability that he selected upon becoming Level 2 greatly improves his [[BornLucky already impressive luck]]. The first time he visits Orario's casinos, he repeatedly wins at roulette even while betting on a single number, quickly multiplying his initial earnings by more than 10,000 times.

-->'''Chiana:''' Seven times, in a row. They arrested me. They took my winnings. [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil They had a little fun]] and then a little torture... [[DarkAndTroubledPast Nothin' new.]]

* '' Series/SevenDays1998''. Frank has a gambling addiction so tries to cash in on his backstepping through time. The problem is whenever he does so he creates an alternative reality so whatever game he's betting on [[ButterflyOfDoom might not turn out the way he remembered.]]

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS2E46AMostUnusualCamera A Most Unusual Camera]]", a camera lets the protagonists win betting on horse races, but all three of them are dead by the end of the episode.

* ''Series/{{Farscape}}''. This backfires badly on Chiana when she uses her newly-developed ability to slow down time for this.
-->'''Chiana:''' There's a--there's a cheat-proof game at the casinos. A mercury droplet; it bounces off an ion stream. and there's a thousand different outcomes.
-->'''John:''' You won.
-->'''Chiana:''' Seven times, in a row. They arrested me. They took my winnings. [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil They had a little fun]] and then a little torture... [[DarkAndTroubledPast Nothin' new.]]

* ''Series/{{Farscape}}''. This backfires badly on Chiana when she uses her newly-developed ability to slow down time to win seven times in a row

* ''[[LightNovel/LordOfMysteries Lord of the Mysteries]]'': Councilor Ricciardo, a demigod of the wheel of fortune pathway and high ranking member of a secret organization, doesn't have any money to pay the protagonist. Instead, he transfers luck to win the corresponding amount in a casino. On another occasion, the light novel features three demigods of different pathways competing in a card game while exploiting their special abilities of bribing, intimidation, and puppeteering.

* ''Series/TheAlmightyJohnsons'': Mike Johnson being the [[GodInHumanForm incarnation of Ullr]], the Norse God of Skill, Hunt and Duel, has his powers manifest like this. If he can get the other party to agree even tangibly to any form of competition (even a fight if he words it correctly), he's utterly invincible (it only applies to competitions he person personally participates in, thus doesn't apply other activities like horse racing). Even if he wants to lose it will end in his favour. Mike likewise struggles with addiction to gambling, specifically as he knows he can't lose, he has a habit of getting extremely antagonistic and cocky during the games (often angering his opponents). It's implied this coupled with him betting often against unsavoury and likely-to-be-violent individuals is a subconscious manifestation of his guilt at cheating.

* ''Literature/TooManyMagicians'' has a character TrappedByGamblingDebts after attempting to use his limited prescience, which allows him a few seconds glimpse into the future, to cheat in a casino. It gave him some edge, just not enough when an actual wizard with telekinesis was sitting in the next room and could affect things like dice rolls.

* ''Manga/YuGiOh'': Pegasus cheats at Duel Monsters by reading his opponent's mind. Yugi and Yami, two souls in one body, beat him by switching out every turn, preventing him from guessing their strategy.

** In the [[VideoGame/{{Fallout1}} first]] and [[VideoGame/{{Fallout2}} second]] games the LuckStat was more [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane ambiguous]] in what it represented, and it could be increased in the first game through playing UsefulNotes/TarotCards and in the second game through a "Zeta Scan" from the local ChurchOfHappyology. But this had a legitimate, if small, increase in favorable gambling odds (A case of [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve hand clapping]]?).

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* ''TabletopGame/MageTheAscension:'' There are three effects for gambling, and all rely on the Entropy Sphere. The first rank is automatic probability calculation (such as the odds of winning a poker hand). The second rank, combined with rank 2 Time, allows the user to foresee the most likely event. The third rank of Entropy allows a Mage to just make the machine give them a winning result.
[[/folder]]

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': In "A Most Unusual Camera" a camera lets the protagonists win betting on horse races, but all three of them are dead by the end of the episode.

* Attempted in Season 2 of ''Series/TheUmbrellaAcademy''. Klaus, who can [[ISeeDeadPeople see ghosts]], tries to cheat at poker by having Ben, a ghost, tell him what the other players are holding. Unfortunately for him, Ben decides it would be funnier to make Klaus lose.

* ''Series/JessicaJones'': In a game of poker, Killgrave uses his CompellingVoice powers to make everyone at the table go all in and then everyone but him fold, letting him win over a million dollars with an absolutely abysmal hand. He could have just forced them to give him the money straight up, but he prefers doing little extra KickTheDog actions like that because [[EvilIsPetty he's just that petty]].

* ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'': As the Ultimate Lucky Student, Nagito naturally has an edge when it comes to anything relying on chance. He uses this to purposely pick the losing lot so he could clean the space for his class's party [[spoiler:to set up his murder plot]] and successfully play Russian roulette with ''five out of six'' chambers loaded. Finally, [[spoiler:he relies on his luck to have TheMole unknowingly kill him and make it impossible to determine which student was actually responsible for the murder with one hundred percent certainty]].

* Generally defied by Data in ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''. The episode "Cause and Effect" shows that in most cases he deliberately avoids stacking the poker deck, even to his own disadvantage, but the final segment of the episode shows that he's entirely ''capable'' of doing so.

** ''Spectacular Spider-Man #21'' shows Peter using his SpiderSense to win in an annual superhero poker game for charity.

* ''Literature/TheWonderfulStoryOfHenrySugar'' is about a man who gained various vision-related abilities, including XRayVision, and used it to win at casinos. However, he realized that [[NoChallengeEqualsNoSatisfaction there was no thrill in winning so easily]], so he tries to [[MoneyToThrowAway throw his winnings to passerbys]]. He is chastised by a cop, who suggests that Henry donates it to a charitable organization. It is then that Henry decides to continue gambling at casinos with his powers and to use his winnings to open well-financed orphanages all over the world.