Editor’s note: Images and overlay here. Interviews and grabs from The Lott available on request.
Australians may like to say they’re not superstitious, but when it comes to buying a lottery ticket, many admit they won’t do it without their own lucky charm close at hand.
For some, it’s a jade Buddha slipped into a pocket. For others, it’s a lucky pen that “doesn’t feel right” if it’s left behind.
One player carries a shell from the beach where they grew up, another keeps a cat’s lost whisker, while one happily credits their partner of 17 years as the luckiest charm of all.
Ahead of St Patrick’s Day, research from The Lott reveals that while many Australians may roll their eyes at the idea of superstitions and lucky charms, for some, quirky rituals and treasured objects still play a starring role when playing lotteries.
The research found only about one-in-10 Australians (9%) consider themselves extremely or very superstitious, yet almost a quarter (22%) admit to having a special routine when purchasing their lottery ticket.
Those routines range from purchasing their ticket on a particular day to travelling outside their local area to buy a ticket.
The data also found 15% of players keep a lucky or protective charm, and among those charm-holders, 71% carry or wear it all the time. Some of these personal charms include:
- ‘A pair of earrings that my late mum gave me for my 18th birthday.’
- ‘A photo of my goddaughter.’
- ‘My dog is my lucky charm. I tell her everything, even wanting to win the lottery.’
- ‘I carry a crystal in my coin purse suggested by a tarot card reading.’
- ‘An Irish Claddagh. It is a symbol with two hands holding a heart.’
- 'My Rosary Beads - I go nowhere without them even if only carrying an evening bag.’
- ‘It’s a little gold Leo, it’s my birth sign.’
- ‘A one-dollar US bill.’
- ‘I have a Budda and I put my tickets under him.’
Lucky charms, rituals and superstitions aside, The Lott spokesperson Khat McIntyre said the one thing every winner had in common was having a valid ticket in their hands before the draw’s close.
“St Patrick’s Day is all about celebrating a little luck, and our research shows that for many Aussie lottery players, that sense of luck lives in the small rituals and personal charms they bring with them when they buy a lottery ticket,” she said.
“And for a select group of players, this has led them to a life-changing prize.
“One memorable story was a Newtown player who bought a Weekday Windfall ticket after experiencing an itchy palm and went on to win $1 million.
“She told us she was cleaning her house when she had ‘the itchiest palm’. She told her mum about it and her mum said, ‘That means money! You should put a lottery ticket on!’.”
