the seniors probably have those superstitious belief. there were people who sometimes hear something on TV or combine the birth dates of their children to bet on lottery. people are hopeful to get the instant money but there are times where there are multiple winners in our lottery, it must be true and not rigged.
i'm not sure if there is a trick to it that the city can program numbers to come out but in my country we use the Air-Mix Lottery Machine where numbers are on table tennis balls.
Having tricks in lottery might be really happening but only the operators have known it well. And gamblers just continue betting with their favorite numbers, either its from their dreams or any superstitious beliefs, I guess they wont stick to it if it werent working after all. And as much as lottery gambling is legal and games are not rigged, enough reason why a lot of gamblers still pursue in lottery despite of a very small winning odd.