No doubt you’ve heard of the expression “beginner’s luck”. You’ve likely even experienced it yourself before.
Whether you’re starting out playing online slots, picking up a cricket bat for the first time, or being dealt your first poker hand, the odds aren’t always as stacked against you as you might think.
Players new to any game or activity can get lucky and come out on top. And, while this winning streak will often end sooner or later, it sure can be fun to wipe the smile off an expert’s face while it lasts!
But what is beginner’s luck all about? And who has realised their dreams thanks to this strange global phenomenon? Let’s take a look.
Explaining Beginner’s Luck: possible theories
Beginner’s luck isn’t a given. After all, if it were, everyone would net a big win with their first lottery ticket or come out a winner during their first foray into a new sport. But novices are often lucky and inspire hope in millions of people trying their luck at something for the first time.
Here are some possible explanations about how beginner’s luck works and why it might occur:
- A fluke
There are plenty of people who doubt the existence of beginner’s luck. They dismiss it as a fluke or a coincidence where the beginner status of the winner has no bearing on their ultimate success or failure. Or, they suggest that it could have just been because their more experienced opponent is having a bad day.
- The beginner has played similar games
Many games use similar strengths and abilities. For example, chess is a board game with one opponent, and poker is a card game with several. But both require deep thought processes and a lot of second-guessing moves and plays. As such, while there’s no guarantee that an experienced chess player would be good at poker or vice versa, skills developed playing similar games means that some beginners start off with a little more insight than complete novices.
In sports, this explanation holds even more weight. Tennis, basketball, golf and the like are very different on the surface. But, someone skilled at one ball game will often find their sporting skills interchangeable, even when playing a game they’ve never played before.
- Rookie moves can catch experts off-guard
In skilled games like cards and chess, experienced players expect specific actions from their opponents and prepare their strategies using their predictions. But, without the necessary experience and skill, beginners often don’t take the best action. These rookie moves can catch the skilled opponent off-guard, making predicting or interpreting their novice opponent’s following action difficult. As a result, experienced players lose some of their advantages.
- Beginners aren’t hampered by expectation
One of the most popular explanations for beginner’s luck is that it comes from the disconnect between the player and the pressure of the game.
When people perceive you as an expert at a game or sport, there’s pressure on you to perform. In contrast, no one expects inexperienced players to do well. This contradiction gives beginners more freedom to play the game as they see it on the day. Their veteran opponent, in contrast, feels even more under pressure to beat a beginner and may end up missing the obvious as a result.
- An example of confirmation bias
Belief in beginner’s luck can also lead to confirmation bias. This means that when a beginner performs well or comes out as a winner, they are more memorable as they confirm what you already thought. In contrast, this bias makes you more likely to forget occasions where a beginner performed poorly since they oppose your beliefs.
- Everyone had an equal chance
Luck and skill factor into the equation for many games, sports and activities. But when it comes to playing the lottery, everyone has an equal chance of winning, no matter how many tickets they buy.
Lottery numbers are entirely random. This means the winning ticket is just as likely to be 1,2,3,4,5,6 as any other combination of numbers. And a beginner buying their first ticket is just as likely to win a life-changing fortune on the next draw as someone who’s played every lottery for the last 50 years. Of course, you can only win if you play, beginner or not!
7. Beginners who’ve got lucky
Suppose beginner’s luck is such a widespread global phenomenon. In that case, there must be some great examples of first-timers who’ve struck it big, right?:
- In 2020, an unnamed woman from Sydney, Australia won A$50 million on the Oz Lotto after buying her first-ever lottery ticket. Stating that she’d bought the ticket on a whim while holidaying in Shoalhaven, the lucky lady was shocked to walk away as the sole winner of the top prize.
- In 2018, Maryland gospel musician André Jones bought his first Powerball ticket after the jackpot soared to $1.6 billion. He credits his $50,000 win to… you guessed it, beginner’s luck!
- Despite never having played the lottery before, Connecticut coast guard instructor Andrew Norberg scooped a cool million bucks in the Powerball draw thanks to picking five of the six winning numbers back in 2016.
- The same day Andrew won big, 19-year-old Frederik Walker from Florida won $2 million after buying his first Powerball ticket.
As these beginner winners show, going with your gut and trying your luck can pay off. Your instincts and a dose of beginner’s luck could be precisely what you need to hit the jackpot!
8. Now it’s time to test your own beginner’s luck!
As this rundown on beginner’s luck shows, even the most sceptical people must admit there’s something in it.
And, now you know all about beginner’s luck, what better way to test yours than by playing Win Millions Lotto?
Please take a look at how it works here.
Disclaimer: Win Millions Lotto is a licensed and regulated online lottery site. Please play responsibly and adhere to the legal gambling age in your jurisdiction.
