By John Berger

One eight is auspicious, a pair of 8s even more so, and three 8s - well, that’s prosperity tripled.

The numerals are so valuable that people will pay to maximize their luck.

The government of Hong Kong has allowed phone service providers to bid on number “blocks” that are then re-sold to customers. Cell phone stores are said to add as much as $2,000 to the price of phones with lucky numbers.

“Lucky 8″ lore also includes the story of a Chinese company that paid the equivalent of $300,000 per year extra to get the telephone number 8888-8888.

Cash-strapped Hawaii might tap into a new revenue steam by following the example of the Chinese municipalities that put lucky license plates up for bid.

An auction for 200 license plates netted one Chinese city the equivalent of $366,500 - a plate with three 8s went for $6,750, according to news reports out of China. Another license plate auction netted the equivalent of more than $1 million.

Chinese home buyers in the U.S. may consider an 8 in a street address as an added value, or try to get as many 8s as possible in their telephone numbers or when opening a checking account.

license plates and phone numbers

The number 8 in popular culture:
A random search for the phone number (808) 888-8888 indicates that it belongs to Hawaiian Island Ghost Hunters in Wahiawa. An actual call, however, revealed a disconnected line. Bad luck with ghosts? (800) 888-8888 led to a company called Staten Corporate and Casual, which deals in everything from wholesale apparel to foreclosures, travel and employment. Several phone calls yielded an automated recording, but no human being.

If you want Lucky8 on your license plate in Hawaii, you’re out of luck. It’s already taken, according to the city’s Department of Motor Vehicles Web site. So are 88888 and EIGHT. Hopefully, these car owners have avoided accidents, vandalism and speeding tickets. — Katherine Nichols

Closer to home, the number pops up from time to time in local real-estate transactions.

Hawaii Realtor Yukiko Sato says agents may list properties with asking prices “like $888,888, to be lucky.”

On the other hand, Realtor Julia Chu reports that a property listed for sale with a the unlucky address of 404 sold shortly after the seller was somehow able to get the address changed to the double-lucky 88.

When it comes to fixed dates on a calendar, money can’t buy you luck, but you can choose which calendar to follow to maximize your chances. The current celebration of 08-08-08 exists only in the Christian calendar. The year 2008 equates more or less to the year 4705 in China, 1429 in the Islamic world and 2551 for some Buddhists. For Japanese nationalists, this is simultaneously Heisei 20 (the 20th year of the reign of Emperor Akihito) and 2668 (under the Japanese Imperial calendar abolished after World War II, but which fortuitously contains a lucky 8).

In short, there are a lot of lucky days out there, if you’re willing to dig deep and look around.