This article examines Vietnamese Australian gamblers’ views
on luck and winning to explore their subjective perspectives. Illusion of control beliefs have been identified as a predictor of gambling frequency and a risk factor for problem gambling. Culture-specific beliefs regarding luck and winning may further strengthen universal illusion of control beliefs. Twenty-one Vietnamese-Australian gamblers were interviewed with regard to their subjective views of luck and winning at gambling. It was hypothesized that regular gamblers would hold substantial illusion of control beliefs, that culture-specific schemas would be present in their beliefs about gambling outcomes, and that universal schemas commonly found in gamblers from other cultural backgrounds would also be present. The results indicated that Vietnamese Australian gamblers held both universal illusion of control beliefs and some culture-specific beliefs. The implications of culture-specific schemas in reinforcing illusion of control beliefs are discussed.