4

The number East Asian buildings skip

China, Japan, Korea

Four is avoided across much of East Asia because 四 (four) is near-homophonous with 死 (death). The avoidance is not abstract: floor numbering routinely omits it, exactly as many Western buildings omit the thirteenth.

Smorfia napoletana'O puorcothe pig

Sources

Tetraphobia: 四/死 homophony; floor-numbering omissions documented across East Asia.
Parallel: Western 13th-floor omissions.

Cultural interest — does not change your odds.

The reality check

What the machines actually did with 4, across every lottery this site holds a long record for.

Powerball97of 103 expected−0.57σ
UK Lotto116of 119 expected−0.32σ
EuroMillions93of 104 expected−1.17σ
SuperEnalotto146of 161 expected−1.22σ
Set for Life381of 378 expected+0.18σ

Across 5 lotteries that hold a 4, its average deviation from expectation is −0.62σ. Statistically ordinary, everywhere.

The one thing a belief about a number can measurably do is change how many people play it — and a jackpot shared more ways is worth less to each winner. That is the only real consequence, and it is arithmetic rather than folklore.