Luck

Myth
Luck
Player's stats showing Luck at maximum
Games	San Andreas
Locations	Las Venturas
Status	Proven

Luck is the belief that certain circumstances are consistently weighed in favor of a person, particularly improbable events. In GTA, it is a seemingly unutilized game mechanic exclusive to San Andreas. It is present only as a player Statistic and it's purpose is a matter of debate.

There seems to be only way to improve the Luck statistic in the collection of the Horseshoe collectibles scattered around Las Venturas. Each horseshoe increases Luck by 20, to a maximum of 1000 with all 50 horseshoes. Interestingly, there is no explanation of what luck really does and there is no mention of it outside the statistics menu.

Luck doesn't appear to affect gameplay or player's performance in the same way other stats do. Maximizing Luck seems to make no difference to the chances of winning at casinos or horse-racing when compared with a stat of 0. This can be verified by inspecting the game's code, in particular the gambling scripts which seems to take current Luck into account for calculating probability as it purely dependent on random number generation. Additionally, odds dont seem to be affected by the Gambling skill in any way. Luck is never referenced in any mission script either. Players have made repeated attempts to compare their winning chances before and after increasing the Luck statistic and found no significant increase to the chance of winning. Whether Luck serves any purpose in the game, or whether or not the player gets any real benefit from increasing it is still unknown.

The ambiguity of Luck has lead to many discussions and investigations into how it impacts the game. Some have pointed out that Luck is not merely an indication of the player's progress of finding all Horseshoes, which is essential for the 100% completion of the game, as it would be redundant because a statistic already exists for tracking Horseshoe collectibles in the form of "Horseshoes collected" under the Achievement category.

Some myth hunters have suggested that Luck may impact the probability of witnessing various phenomena, such as paranormal events or cryptid creatures. Others propose that it may have some impact on npc traffic and effects the chance of encountering a vehicle accident, especially npc piloted planes that often crash. They go on to suggest that planes may be programmed to crash when flying overhead of unlucky players. However, this theory seems to be incorrect as it has been proven that these planes are a common experience in the form of Suicidal Airplanes, and seem to occur regardless of the luck statistic and may be either an npc pathing issue or a completely intended game mechanic.

Conclusion

It is most likely that Luck was once an intended feature in San Andreas and probably increased casino odds. This could be evidenced by the Horseshoe's placement around Las Venturas, a city built on gambling. It is likely the statistic wasn't implemented before the game's release, perhaps due to time restraints, the complexities in balancing such a mechanic or concerns of breaking the in-game economy with player favored odds. It is entirely possible that Luck functions as intended and purposefully does nothing, and could be subtle commentary by the developer's of their lack of faith in Luck actually existing in the real world.

Mentions of Luck

• In the mission Cesar Vialpando, Ese 1 says: "Horale pendejo you lucky. That's right, you lucky Cesar's spoken for you."
• In the mission Wu Zi Mu, Woozie says: Get your car started, we're about to go. Good luck, Carl Johnson.
• In the mission Jizzy, Jizzy B phones carl and says: You is a bad luck charm, clucky!'
• In the mission Mike Toreno, CJ says: I think they was just trying their luck.'
• In the mission Mountain Cloud Boys, Suzie says: 'He is blessed with unbelievable good fortune. And the Triad that would do anything for him. We call him our Lucky Mole.
• In the mission Customs Fast Track, Cesar says: No luck, CJ, try another!
• In the mission Monster, the unnamed man says: Good luck! You need to get a time better than 6:30.
• In the mission Explosive Situation, Woozie says: Bad luck. Listen, you're gonna need a crew and some special equipment.
• In the mission Key to her Heart, CJ says: Luckily, there's always one guaranteed weak link in any security set up. The human heart.
• In the mission You've had your chips, Woozie says: Damn. You're bad luck for me. You know, when I play the other guys I always win!
• In the mission Don Peyote, Maccer says: That peyote was shite, you were lucky I brought some tabs along!
• In the mission A home in the hills, Kendl says: Nothing - just thought I'd wish you luck.
• In the mission Beat down on B Dup, Sweet says: You're lucky.
• In the mission Los Desperados, Cesar says: Luckily we have a little surprise up our sleeves, eh, Sunny!
• In the mission Los Desperados, Cesar says: Thank you, CJ and good luck, my friend.

Cesar and Woozie are both tied for the single person to most often mention Luck. This is interesting as the Triad regard Woozie as an incredibly lucky person and believe he is blessed with good fortune.