If you’re superstitious when you gamble then you’re not alone. Even the most skilful gamblers can be. The fallibility of human reason is the greatest single source of superstitious belief. Sometimes referred to as a belief in ‘magic’, superstition can cover many spheres, such as lucky or unlucky actions, events, numbers and sayings, a belief in astrology, the occult, the paranormal and ghosts. But for gambling it’s probably best to view superstition as a belief that a given action can bring good luck or bad luck when there are no rational or generally acceptable grounds for such a belief.

Surveys suggest around one in three people are superstitious in the UK but there’s a stereotypical view that certain groups within society tend to hold more superstitious beliefs than what’s considered the norm.