It’s an exceptional day for La Française des jeux. On this Friday the 13th, the games operator expects as usual a notable increase in sales of scratch tickets and stakes for its lotteries. Associated by superstition with a day of luck (or bad luck, it depends) “Friday the 13th constitutes a real social phenomenon in France, in particular among Loto players, regular or occasional. It’s an event that is quite symbolic for us,” recognizes the company.
Thus, according to the gambling operator, which has a monopoly on lottery games in France, twice as many French people try their luck at the Loto that day, compared to an ordinary draw. . A success that can also be explained by the jackpots that the FDJ puts into play every Friday the 13th. For the last of the year, FDJ announced that it would organize a Super Loto worth 13 million euros. It will be accompanied by 50 winning codes worth 20,000 euros which will be drawn at random.
A EuroMillions draw will also take place, like every Friday, with a prize pool of 55 million euros. It should benefit from particular enthusiasm because of the date. Since May 2022, the company has also been selling a “Golden Chance” scratch ticket on Friday the 13th. Against a stake of two euros twenty, or the average price of a grid, it allows you to win up to 20,000 euros. “This game offers a chance in 3.14 of winning a prize, the best frequency of winning among 2-euro games,” assures the FDJ.
Why this craze? “For the French, Friday the 13th is rather associated with luck. We can think that the link is there,” we say at the FDJ. One in three French people (34%) say they are superstitious, according to a study carried out in May 2022 by the FDJ among the general public and 300 of its winners. According to this same study, the date Friday the 13th is synonymous with luck for 19% of French people. This phenomenon intensifies among younger people: half of those under 35 have this feeling, the study indicates. 42% of winners who declare themselves to be superstitious believe that they won their prize thanks to their superstition.
To choose Loto numbers, a study conducted by Opinion Way (June 2016) confirms that while 27% of players use numbers chosen at random, 40% base themselves on their date of birth, their age or those of their loved ones, 37 % even mention a “flash” and 29% of “important in their life” or even “fetish” numbers. However, statistics do exist: players can always opt for the numbers that fall most often. For example, Française des jeux indicates that between 2019 and 2022, the balls that were drawn the most were the numbers 22, 26 and 31, drawn 63, 61 and 60 times each. Conversely, the numbers that have been drawn the least since 2019 are 1, 18 and 25, each drawn less than 40 times.
The enthusiasm for the lottery can also be explained by practices that have evolved significantly over some time. The number of online lottery players has, for example, doubled since 2019 to reach 5 million, which demonstrates a certain enthusiasm among young people, who are much more fond of playing the game in a web format.
Be careful, however, not to develop an addiction to games. Because the practice is not without risks: the Games Observatory estimated in 2020 that there were 1.4 million players at risk, including nearly 400,000 at the pathological level. As a reminder, games of chance and gambling are prohibited for under 18s in France.