luck

18 Stories

Delaware Man Has Unusual Luck With Maryland Lottery

Duane Ketterman, who travels for work, has racked up $50K from 2 separate winnings in 5 weeks

(Newser) - It was Duane Ketterman's lucky day—and then it was his lucky day again, just five weeks later. CNN reports that the man from Millsboro, Del., won the lottery in neighboring Maryland not once but twice in about a month's time, taking home nearly $50,000 in the...

Man's Fortune Cookie Pays Off Bigger Than Anticipated

NC's Gabriel Fierro used numbers inside cookie to play Mega Millions, won $4M

(Newser) - Some fortune cookies predict good fortune. Others apparently directly deliver it. That was the case for North Carolina's Gabriel Fierro, who won a $4 million Mega Millions prize after playing the numbers he found inside a fortune cookie, WSLS reports. Per the North Carolina Education Lottery , Fierro—a 60-year-old...

Tossing Coins for Good Luck Has Unfortunate Side Effect

A sea turtle ended up with an 11-pound ball of coins in her stomach

(Newser) - Tossing coins in a fountain for luck is a popular superstition, but a similar belief brought misery to a sea turtle in Thailand from whom doctors have removed 915 coins. Veterinarians in Bangkok operated Monday on the 25-year-old female green sea turtle nicknamed "Bank," whose indigestible diet was...

Guy Wins $1K —Then $10M Moments Later

Rodney Meadows 'let it ride'

(Newser) - We've heard of having a lucky day, but this is ridiculous. A man running errands Nov. 23 in Modesto, Calif., bought a $30 scratch-off ticket at the local Fast Mart and won $1,000, KCRA reports. Then things got even better. According to the Los Angeles Times , Rodney Meadows...

Hugely Popular App Lets You Tap a Cactus

'Money, love, power, whatever you want—tap it'

(Newser) - A $10 app has become so popular it's now ranked among the top 10 paid entertainment apps on iTunes, reports FeedsWatcher , and it consists of nothing more than an image of a cactus that, when tapped, emits emojis—a dollar sign, leaf, tongue, briefcase, etc. The folks at Blimps...

Lottery Luck Strikes Twice for Maryland Truck Driver

39-year-old dad won $250K in 2005

(Newser) - A Maryland truck driver has won his second lottery in a decade. The 39-year-old—who has remained anonymous—claimed his $2.85 million Multi-Match winnings on Saturday, the Baltimore Sun reports. "It's great to be back," he said. The man apparently pops into stores along his route...

Want to Win Powerball? Maybe Move to West Virginia

9 winners of $1M+ this year, more per capita than any other state

(Newser) - West Virginia lottery players are on a roll this year, with nine Powerball tickets worth at least $1 million sold in the state. While five other states have had more people win $1 million or more, West Virginia is No. 1 per capita, averaging one Powerball ticket worth $1 million...

How Gamblers Manage to Get Lucky Streaks
 How Gamblers 
 Manage to Get 
 Lucky Streaks 
study says
May 18, 2014 9:17 AM CDT

How Gamblers Manage to Get Lucky Streaks

They're not really based on luck: study

(Newser) - Lucky streaks shouldn't really happen. After all, the chances of a successful bet this time aren't affected by a win last time. Yet the phenomenon of lucky streaks—as well as losing streaks—does occur, scientists found after reviewing 565,915 online bets on horse racing, soccer, and...

Lucky Guy Hits Big Lottery in 2nd State

He's won million-dollar jackpots in Michigan and Tennessee

(Newser) - Remember the guy who hit not one but two big lotteries in Florida? A Michigan man may have one-upped him by striking it rich in separate states. Joseph Palmarchuk won a $1.35 million lottery jackpot this week in Michigan's Classic Lotto 47 game. In 2011, Palmarchuk won a...

Florida Man Wins 2nd Multimillion-Dollar Lottery

Orlando resident hits it at the same 7-Eleven, too

(Newser) - An Orlando man who won a multimillion-dollar jackpot playing the Florida Lotto has done it again. The Florida Lottery says 67-year-old James Bozeman Jr. has claimed a $3 million Florida Lotto jackpot from the drawing held on Aug. 31. Last year, Bozeman claimed a $10 million Florida Lotto jackpot. He...

Obama's Rise Stems From One Lucky Break

Specifically, the pulling of a name from a hat: David Maraniss

(Newser) - David Maraniss of the Washington Post recounts how the rise of Barack Obama from obscure state senator to president of the United States can be traced to one moment of pure "luck and chance." Flash back to Sept. 5, 2001: Obama is a fifth-year legislator in Illinois who...

Woman Wins Wheel With Single Letter

'Super competitive' contestant wows host Sajak

(Newser) - A Wheel of Fortune contestant put one letter on the board—then correctly guessed the entire puzzle, reports Huffington Post. Caitlin Burke of New Jersey won a trip to the Caribbean for figuring out the (oh-so-appropriate) phrase, “I’ve got a good feeling about this,” with the letter...

Man Wins Lottery Twice in 3 Months

57-year-old wins $3M from two tickets

(Newser) - A 57-year-old Missouri man has struck it rich in a million-dollar lottery this year—again. Ernest Pullen won $1 million on a "100 Million Dollar Blockbuster" ticket in June, then got another $2 million with a "Mega MONOPOLY" ticket this month, reports AP . He's taking the lump sum...

Rare White Elephant Found in Burma

Creature hailed as sign of good luck

(Newser) - Villagers in western Myanmar have found a rare white elephant, a traditional symbol of good fortune in a region that badly needs it. The villagers spotted the animal in a herd of five elephants and contacted the Ministry of Forestry, which captured it, Reuters reports. White elephants—which are actually...

Lucky Charms Really Work

 Lucky Charms 
 Really Work 
study says
Apr 29, 2010 11:07 AM CDT

Lucky Charms Really Work

Study shows they can affect performance

(Newser) - Wearing your "lucky underwear" to every big meeting may mean you're a little weird—but not crazy. A new study shows that believing in good luck can actually have an impact on performance. Researchers told a group of putters that they were playing with a "lucky ball"—...

World's Oddest New Year Rituals

Grapes, bonfires, effigies are some nations' traditions for a lucky 2009

(Newser) - While much of the world indulges in the traditional New Year's Eve fare of glittery balls and fireworks, other countries have more unusual ways of shepherding in the next year, reports Travel and Leisure. For example: 
  • Spain: Gobbling a grape for each clock stroke is considered a fruity down
...

Thais Take Coffin Naps to Fix Karma

$5 buys a few minutes in monastery's gaudy pink boxes

(Newser) - As Thailand's economy slows and its government falters, growing numbers of deeply superstitious citizens are jostling into a pink coffin to "die," the Telegraph reports. At about $5 a head, monks in a monastery outside Bangkok officiate over the "dead bodies" in the coffins, before ushering in...

9,000 Plan Olympic Weddings
 9,000 Plan
 Olympic Weddings
Aug 1, 2008 2:30 AM CDT

9,000 Plan Olympic Weddings

Opening day is lucky date

(Newser) - Thousands of Beijing couples plan to tie the knot on the opening day of the Olympic Games, reports USA Today. The all-eights date, 8/8/08, is considered lucky in China, which is why authorities chose that day for the start of the Olympiad. Now some 9,000 lovers hope to share...

18 Stories