It’s all about the Lucky Pants!

What is it about gambling that makes people talk about superstitions? We’ve all got our own, no matter whether we really believe them or not: walking under ladders, carrying lucky key rings or knocking a certain number of times on doors before we can enter a room. Some of us have to knock on wood when we talk about things potentially happening and some of us even have our own lucky pants! Gala Casino has conducted a survey of all of these different habits and superstitions and have uncovered some really interesting ones.

For instance, did you know that a third of all British people have a lucky number? One in three of those who did have a lucky number choose the number 7. Why is that? Perhaps it has something to do with David Beckham’s old number, or James Bond. Strangely enough, in third place is the number 13 – often thought of as extremely unlucky! Nearly half of the people who have lucky numbers said that their lucky number was based on a family member’s birthday, and a quarter of them said that the lucky number they had chosen was based on previous good luck. Nearly two thirds of the population use the same numbers to play the lottery.

It seems to be men are very superstitious too, with 1 in 10 owning a lucky charm, and a huge one third of men believe that their pants are lucky! Perhaps this is an example of past luck influencing current superstitions? One in five men own a lucky teddy bear (that’s double the number of women) and more men own lucky shoes over women, one in ten men will own a pair. The top three superstitions that men believe are: Walking beneath ladders (60% believed in this), breaking mirrors (46%) and opening an umbrella up indoors (47%).

In terms of lucky charms, a whopping 90% of the British population don’t own a lucky charm, but of the 10% who do, almost half of them claimed it was a sentimental piece of jewellery.

The top three results for superstitious items? Four leaf clovers, ‘find a penny, pick it up’ and knocking on wood are the top of the charts for those who look for items that will grant them wishes.

Of course, that’s just the UK and it’s important to note that whilst we may be familiar with a lot of these superstitions and beliefs, there are a number of bizarre and strange ones from all around the world. For example, in Nigeria you should never kiss a baby on the lips, in Serbia it’s considered good lucky to spill water behind someone heading to a job interview, and in Russia it’s considered bad luck to be carrying an empty bucket! With all that said and done, do you have your own unusual superstitions?