News writer; Opinion columnist
Whether you trust four-leaf clovers, lucky numbers, or prophetic dreams, there's no shortage of good luck charms and superstitions that lottery players use to try to tilt the odds in their favor. But for some people, a simple rabbit's foot just isn't enough.
Players will light candles, refuse to buy tickets on 'unlucky' days, or only scratch tickets at certain times of day. And while it can be easy to mock these rituals, every superstition seems crazy until it actually works.
These are true stories of people who used the strangest superstitions to win big lottery jackpots.
King of winning
Daniel Peramaki has dubbed himself “The King of Scratchers” for his love of playing $20 scratch-off lottery games. While calling yourself the king of anything can seem like a lot of big talk, as the saying goes, it's not bragging if you can back it up.
Peramaki told California Lottery officials that he was determined to win a major lottery prize and believed he could increase his odds of scoring a jackpot by using specific strategies. He explained:
I'm very superstitious. If I scratch them right away, it's a loser. I usually buy them, put them in my pocket, and wait.
Peramaki's superstitious strategies include buying only the seventh, eighth, and ninth tickets from a newly opened game. Additionally, he doesn't scratch off the numbers in a normal left-to-right and top-to-bottom order. Instead, he hopscotches around the card, revealing numbers randomly.
While none of these techniques seems like they should actually increase your odds of winning, the King may have had the last laugh. While on a lunch break from work, he purchased a $20 Neon Cash Party instant win ticket from the Star Liquor store in Anaheim, California. The ticket was the seventh one in the pack.
Staying true to his methods, he didn't scratch it right away. Instead, he waited until midnight and selected numbers at random to uncover. He was down to his last number and convinced that the ticket was a loser when he made his final scratch and uncovered the symbol, which told him that his ticket was worth $5 million.
Now the king had taken his crown.
Peramaki elected to take the lump-sum payout, which means he'll receive $2.9 million. While he hasn't said exactly how he plans to spend the money, he's already having some fun with his big win:
I showed someone at work the $5,000,000 [ticket]. He said, 'Oh, congrats, five thousand,' and I said, 'That's a comma, not a decimal!'
Avoid at all costs
After selling a big winning ticket, lottery retailers are often flooded with players hoping to pick up some of the store's remaining luck. However, going against this strategy helped one New Jersey couple secure a big win of their own.
The couple, who chose to remain anonymous, had a habit of buying their tickets from a specific retailer. However, after they heard that their favorite store had just sold a jackpot-winning ticket, they decided they needed to change their strategy and buy from a different retailer.
The pair went instead to the Little Falls Beverage and Bar on Main Street in Little Falls, New Jersey. On September 21, 2024, they purchased a Jersey Cash 5 ticket from the store, playing their usual numbers.
The drawing was scheduled for the next morning, and the couple told state lottery officials how they learned that they had just won the biggest prize of their lives. The husband recalled:
I was just sitting down at the breakfast table, and I started checking the numbers. First one, that's right. The next, and the next...
Whether it was superstition or luck, the couple's numbers, 6, 7, 18, 32, and 42, all came up, and they had won a share of the jackpot. The game's top prize was worth $874,024, but because there were two winning tickets for the drawing, the couple collected half that amount.
While their ultimate prize wasn't a multi-million dollar fortune, the couple said the win would have a big impact on their lives.
The lucky couple said they planned to use their winnings to make some overdue home repairs and take their dream vacation together. The store where they went to change their luck will receive an additional $2,000 bonus.
"This gives us some comfort," the winner's spouse said. "A little bit of cushion and some security."
Rule of 3
While some superstitions are as simple as holding a lucky charm or only buying tickets on certain days, one Australian woman credits a more complex ritual for her first big lottery win. The Melbourne woman, who chose to remain anonymous, says she always does the same three things before buying a lottery ticket. She explained to reporters:
I have this little tradition when I buy lottery tickets that I was told would bring me luck. It's a lucky tradition! I light a green candle, eat a piece of dark chocolate, and then I say, 'I am lucky!' and then I go and buy my lottery ticket!
While she didn't explain how she devised such a specific series of steps, they must have worked, because in January of 2021, she received a phone call telling her that she had won $678,000 from the Tatts Lotto Drawing. She told lottery representatives:
I can't breathe. I only just woke up! I can't believe this. I need to sit down and let this news sink in. This is such a wonderful surprise!
The woman described the win as life-changing, and she was most excited for all of the ways she could use the money to help her family.
“I am going to pay off the mortgage, buy a new car, and help my family,” she said. “Now I really do feel lucky. This is phenomenal!”
We imagine that she'll also probably buy some more candles and dark chocolate with her winnings.
The scratcher
If you're feeling scratchy, that means it's time to buy a scratch-off lottery ticket. At least, that was the belief of California resident Elena Penaloza, who decided to try her luck based on an unusual superstition:
You know that superstition where when your hands get itchy, it means you're going to get money? She said she felt that the week before she won.
"She thinks it was fate," Penaloza's daughter Ariana told reporters.
Elena listened to her body and bought a Diamond 8 scratch-off ticket at a 7-Eleven in West Covina, California. While her palms may have itched, her eyes must have watered when she uncovered her ticket and saw that she had just won the game's top prize of one million dollars.
Ariana said that neither of them was willing to believe their win was real until they returned to the store the next day, scanned the ticket, and confirmed they had won the jackpot.
"We walked home and were like 'Oh my,'" Ariana stated. "My mom now wants to buy a house."
She added that Elena wasn't just happy for her win but also for how revenue from the California Lottery is used to support schools.
She most definitely came to America for her children's chance for a great education. She's happy that she's able to help school kids.
If it sticks, he picks
It turns out that having a superstitious method for picking your scratch-off tickets might actually work because yet another person managed to scratch their way to a fortune with their technique for selecting just the right ticket.
One South Carolina man, who chose to remain anonymous, shared how his unique way of picking instant-win tickets led him to a big lottery prize.
"I get whatever ticket is sticking out the furthest," the man, who chose to remain anonymous, told state lottery officials.
So when he stepped into the Enmark gas station in his hometown of Bluffton, South Carolina, he already had a good idea of which ticket was going to make him a winner. Staring into the lottery ticket display case, he saw a Stacks of Cash scratch-off ticket sticking out much farther than the rest.
He spent $10 on the ticket and immediately set to work uncovering the numbers. He was only halfway through scratching when he uncovered an instant-win symbol, which meant he had just won $300,000.
"I couldn't believe it," he recalled. "I went home and took the rest of the day off."
He added that the best part about winning was that it gave him a chance to wipe out all of his debts and start his financial life with a clean slate.
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