17 Strange Superstitions That People Use When They Play The Lottery

Isabel Zelaya of New York won $26 million dollars from the Mega Millions lotto drawing on "unlucky" Friday the 13th   Photo: NY Lottery

Actors, horse racers and sports players use superstitions to enhance their skills and win more often.

But lottery plays by a different set of rules … more luck and systems than unusual beliefs and habits. Here’s a selection of age-old superstitions that a lot of people still think work:

How useful are these following superstitions to you?

1. Passing a lottery ticket over the back of a black cat.

2. Passing a lotto ticket over the belly of a pregnant woman.

3. Keeping an old iron key in your pocket while buying.

4. Entering the lottery store with your left foot.

5. Asking for your lottery ticket be given to you by the lottery seller's right hand.

6. Using Personal Destiny Numbers for tickets: eg, adding all the numbers in your date of birth... 1/6/1948 becomes your PDN of 29.

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Rubbing the head of a bald man shows that even USA ex-President George Bush is superstitious   Photo: Supplied

7. Carrying a good luck charm when buying the tickets... a wooden stick, horseshoes, 4 leaf clover, rabbit's foot, medallion.

8. Using numbers or information from a dream.

9. Picking numbers from a pair of dice.

10. Applying special numbers. 8 is a popular Chinese lucky number.

11. Avoiding certain numbers. But 43% of French people think that 13 is a lucky number.

12. Using numbers from a fortune cookie.

13. Wearing a pin pinned upside down on the inside of your collar when buying your tickets.

14. Avoiding wearing red or yellow clothing when buying tickets.

15. Putting a large silver coin in your shoe when buying your lottery ticket.

16. Needing to buy something else in the lottery store, or your tickets will be unlucky.

17. Rubbing the head of a bald man before buying your tickets.

NOW WATCH: Origin of the most popular superstitions