This article is by Kim Ji-ye and read by an artificial voice.

At around 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 8, dozens of people lined up outside a shop called Spa in northern Seoul's Nowon District waiting to buy lottery tickets. The line snaked around a corner, with even a small stand set up selling nuts to bored customers enduring the wait.
"I came here because I thought I might have better luck winning," said Choi Eun-hee, 28, after finally purchasing her ticket after waiting for 15 minutes in the line.
When arriving at Spa, a large banner proudly announcing its 55th first-prize winner hung above the entrance. The glass windows are plastered with bold lettering announcing a long list of past first-prize winners and the amounts they received.
Why would people wait for over 10 minutes on a Saturday evening for a lottery ticket at this particular place when they could easily buy one at a nearby store or even online? The store is known in Korea as a "lottery hot spot," a place believed to produce more winning tickets than others.

Due to the fame of these stores, it is a common sight to see people queuing up in long lines to buy tickets.
But that's just a small piece of the two-decade-long story of the lottery's history in Korea. Even at ordinary lottery shops, especially on Friday evenings, it is common to spot people grabbing a ticket or two on their way home from work.
For 23 years, the lottery has become deeply woven into Korean culture, slipping into everyday routines and even language.
For many young adults, especially Gen Z and millennial individuals, phrases like "I'll quit my job if I win the lottery" or "I'll buy this when I hit the jackpot" have become casual expressions. Also, some companies hand out lottery tickets as prizes during office gatherings or team-building games.
So, what really defines a lottery hot spot? If the odds are indeed the same everywhere, why do people keep lining up at these places? And does the lottery represent something more than just money to Koreans?

Lucky lottery hot spots
In Korea, there are various types of lotteries, but the one that people line up to buy is specifically called Lotto 6/45, priced at 5,000 won ($3.40) per ticket. It was first introduced in 2002 under the Ministry of Economy and Finance's lottery commission. Although the prize money varies depending on the number of winners, the average first-place prize is around 2.5 billion won, while second-place winners take home tens of millions of won.
As of October, there are 9,262 stores nationwide selling lottery tickets, with 1,658 of these located in Seoul, according to the Korea Lottery Commission.
Yet, despite the abundance of stores, not many are often referred to as lottery hot spots. There is no official definition for such stores, but they are generally recognized based on the number of first- and second-prize winners they have produced.
How do people find out about these spots?
There are numerous online posts sharing such information, and DongHang Lottery, a lottery operator, allows people to search where first- and second-prize winners bought their tickets on its official site. But in reality, it's often unnecessary to search, as most stores prominently display signs or banners advertising their history of winners. The more winners a store produces, the more popular it becomes.
One of the most famous lottery shops in Seoul is the aforementioned Spa, which draws large crowds despite being located in a residential area in the city's north. People are known to drive across town just to purchase tickets. On Nov. 8, cars were lined up on the side of the road as people waited to get their chance to purchase what hopefully would be a winning ticket.
The store holds the record for producing the most winners among stores in Seoul, with 55 first-place and 249 second-place winners to date.

Reviews can be found online stating, "I made an hour-and-a-half trip. My heart raced with excitement and anticipation to buy a lottery ticket, as I heard...

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