A CASINO chaplain says Australians are too superstitious and wrongly believe luck is on their side.

Crown's resident chaplain, Fr James Grant, said that too many gamblers were not rational about their prospects of winning.

"An increasing number of patrons believe that luck is on their side, that they have a God-given right to win today," he said.

"People believe that wearing black, blue, green or any other colour or whatever on any given day will cause cards or roulette wheels to fall on lucky numbers.

"In our society luck has become a new secular deity."

The Anglican priest said this behaviour wasn't encouraged by Crown.

Gamblers had to take responsibility for their own actions and not act like they were "in the grip of fate".

"I find it strange that the more educated we are ... the more likely we are to fall prey to this crappy thinking," he said.

Responsible Gambling Advocacy Centre CEO Penny Wilson said people liked to believe in the lucky myth.

"One of the biggest myths about electronic gaming machines is if you stay on a machine for a long time it will give you a jackpot, if you press the button in a certain way it will give you money," she said.

"We hear that from ... even really well-educated people."

Fr Grant said myths extended to ridiculous claims about Crown's activities.

"I can't tell you the number of people I've met who are convinced that Crown has a secret morgue down under the building," he said. "And that plainly the reason I am employed is to conduct all those secret funerals."

Fr Grant was speaking at an event Crown held yesterday as part of Responsible Gambling Awareness Week.

Crown has run a self-exclusion program since 1994 and has opened a responsible gaming support centre.

masanauskasj@heraldsun.com.au

Originally published as Crown chaplain says no such thing as luck