Casino Winner Refuses Unlucky Prize

Chinese man refuses prize because the winning number 4 means "death."

Lucky and unlucky numbers are back in the news after a Jackpot City Casino winner refused to accept a major prize, concerned by having won with a number that signified death.

Mr C, of Chinese origin, won a GBP 4,400 jackpot on the online slot game WowPot, but declined to accept the winnings because of the gloomy meaning behind the winning number four.

According to a Jackpot City spokesperson, this was the first case where a player had refused to accept a check for their winnings due to such a reason.

In Chinese, Japanese and Korean tradition, the number four is pronounced similar to the word for death and therefore carries with it bad luck.

Although four is the most extreme example of an unlucky number, several other numbers are considered unlucky in some parts of China, including six, which in Cantonese has a similar pronunciation to the word for decline, and seven, which is considered by some to have ghostly connotations.

In contrast, the number eight is known for being a lucky number because of its similarity to the word for wealth. The opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics even began at 8:08 and eight second on the eighth day of August (the eighth month), 2008.