As if the recession were not enough, over the past two weeks retailers have had to contend with a lucrative Super 5 jackpot that encouraged people to alter their spending patterns in search of instant riches.

The last time somebody guessed the five winning numbers was on June 3 when two winners took €60,000 each. Tonight's draw carries with it a jackpot of €850,000 and yet it is not the highest ever reached.

The largest jackpot to be won was two years ago on December 12 when the Super 5 hit just over €1.3 million.

The capping on the upper limit that could be won was removed when the Lotteries Department was privatised, which means that the jackpot keeps increasing week after week if nobody guesses the five numbers.

Charles Borg, president of the retailers section of the Malta Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises, GRTU, says that Super 5 does have an impact on business.

"The general feeling is that people do spend less in their shopping when the jackpot is high. Even grocers feel the pinch, which could be an indication that people would also be ready to desist from buying food to spend money on Super 5," Mr Borg said.

The company that runs the game says that the odds of guessing the five numbers are one to 850,668.

A cursory look at all the numbers drawn since the beginning of the year shows that "unlucky" 13 was not so unlucky after all: It was drawn on seven occasions, making it one of the top three most frequent numbers. The other two numbers drawn seven times were 27 and 41.

On the other hand, 28 and 34 have never been drawn this year while the numbers four and 11 were only drawn once.

Will these numbers be the winning ones tonight or will the five numbers be linked to Dom Mintoff's birthday, who turned 93 on August 6?

Alternatively, punters could pin their hopes on numbers linked to the historic Santa Marija feast celebrated next Saturday.

Or is it the tears of St Lawrence that will bring luck to somebody from Vittoriosa?

It is a game of wait and see, as much as it is a game of chance.