Take a gamble. Hedge your bets. Roll the dice. We’re not in Vegas, but you’d be forgiven for thinking that we were! These phrases have wriggled their way into everyday conversation, popping up in pitch meetings, news reports, sports commentary, and that group chat you’ve been ignoring for how many days now? However long it’s been, the chances are you’re probably using them more than you realize. In fact, I just did it right there!
The thing is, the language of luck just works. It’s quick. It’s punchy. It’s a shortcut to something bigger. You say “long shot,” and everyone immediately gets it — there’s risk, there’s hope, and it probably won’t happen, but wouldn’t it be great if it did? Let’s take a look at some of these phrases more carefully and help you to understand where they came from and how to use them.
Business buzzwords with a poker face
Nowhere clings to this language more tightly than the business world. Forget synergy and blue-sky thinking — people in boardrooms are out here rolling the dice and playing their cards right like they’re in a smoky backroom game. Launching a new product? “It’s a bit of a gamble.” Pitching to investors? Better have a few “safe bets” lined up. The entire startup scene practically runs on metaphors borrowed from blackjack tables and roulette wheels.
There’s a reason it’s stuck. Risk and reward are part of both games and business. Plus, if we’re being honest, saying you’re “hedging your bets” sounds way cooler than admitting you can’t fully predict the outcome.
Pop culture’s favorite deck of metaphors
Film and TV? Same story. The language of chance has made its way from the jackpot casino floor to, well, everywhere! You’ll find that the transition goes both ways. Popular slot games like Cleopatra and Jurassic Park both take their source material from the big screen and chop and change it to fit the reels. Film and TV do the opposite, they take casino content and chop it to fit the big screen. You can’t watch Ocean’s Eleven or Rounders without feeling like you’re absorbing casino lingo via osmosis. Even outside explicitly gambling-focused stories, it sneaks in. Characters don’t just “take a risk”, they “go all in.” The odds aren’t just low, they’re “stacked against them.” And if everything works out? You guessed it — they “hit the jackpot.”
So why are these phrases so pervasive? What makes them stick around? They work because they’re not only something we all hope for, they’re also a concept that we all understand. There’s no need to explain what “hitting the jackpot” means. We get it. It’s instant. It’s universal. And it sounds a lot more exciting than saying “I had a really good day.”
When luck becomes logic
But here’s where it gets interesting: we don’t just use this language for fun. Sometimes, we use it to make sense of things that are entirely beyond our control. We don’t say we were unprepared, instead we say the ‘deck was stacked’ against us. We’re not procrastinating, we’re waiting for the right moment to play our hand. There’s a little emotional buffer built in. If life’s a game, then hey — at least we gave it our best shot.
Whether you’re making a career move, choosing a film, or just hoping your Uber driver takes the fast route, luck’s lexicon is probably in there somewhere. So go on, spin the wheel.
