Three times more players, more superstitious women… Who are those trying their luck in the “Super Loto” on Friday the 13th?

A day of misfortune for some, of luck for others, Friday the 13th has become the day when many French people try their luck at scratch cards and other lotteries. While there will only be two Friday the 13th in 2024 – in September and December – this Friday, September 13, the Française des Jeux is offering, as always, a Super Loto worth 13 million euros.

Players will have to tick five numbers out of 49 as well as a lucky number, for a stake of three euros. Fifty players will also be drawn and will win 20,000 euros each, recalls the FDJ which “therefore records two to three times more bets taken for a Friday the 13th than for a classic Loto draw”the group explains to franceinfo.

More than a third of French people say they are more likely to try their luck on a Friday the 13th, according to a survey by the FDJ. A figure that rises to 57% when we ask the big winners.

“The Super Loto on Friday the 13th is an unmissable event for the French, who have been mobilizing for these events for many years and some of whom only play for these draws.”

Drawing games are indeed the most popular on this special date, confirms the FDJ, which notes the same craze on the occasion of the Grand Loto de Noël. Thus, 80 % of respondents say they play a drawing game on Friday the 13th, according to a survey conducted by the group.

Superstition affects 34% of French people, according to the survey conducted by the FDJ. A phenomenon that mainly concerns young adults (51% are under 35) and more women (41%).

This is confirmed by another survey carried out by Flashs for JeuResponsable.fr.

“This stronger relationship of women to superstition is confirmed in the establishment of rituals or the respect of habits before playing games of chance”

Conclusions of a survey for the FDJ

“Thus, they are clearly more numerous than men in adopting preparatory rituals: 62% are in this case against a little more than half of men (54%). They are also more numerous in choosing specific numbers and important dates since half of them (50%) indicate doing so compared to just over a third of men (37%)”, the survey reports.

For some of these superstitious people, however, Friday the 13th turns into a nightmare. The fear of Friday the 13th has a name: paraskevidekatriaphobia. “Friday is a day of misfortune in countries with a Christian tradition, since it is the day of Christ’s death.”explains to AFP anthropologist Dominique Desjeux, professor emeritus at the University of Paris-V. Desjeux, professor emeritus at the University of Paris-V. “On the other hand, the day before, during the Last Supper, he was accompanied by his twelve apostles and from there was born the idea of ​​a bad omen announced by the presence of thirteen diners”he adds.

But this superstition of Friday the 13th is not international. In some countries, it is completely absent, in others, the date of anxiety is not the same. In Italy, the harmful superstition strikes on Friday the 17th, explains AFP, while in Spain and Latin America, Friday the 13th corresponds rather to… Tuesday the 13th. In East Asia, it is the 4th of the month that is associated with bad omen, more particularly in China, Taiwan, Japan and Korea.