the luck of the draw

/ðə lˈʌk ɒvðə dɹˈɔː/

/ðə lˈʌk ʌvðə dɹˈɔː/

[phrase]

[PHRASE]

something that solely depends on chance

Examples

1. The luck of the draw meant the young lad had to face one of America's best players.

2. In a relatively small, isolated population, a trait that doesn’t hurt OR help an individual’s chances of surviving and reproducing can, just by the luck of the draw, become more and more prevalent from one generation to the next.

3. And then there's the luck of the draw factor.

4. The top five ways that people die early are accidents, which is fate, but cancer, which is, again, sort of the luck of the draw, but diabetes, stroke, pulmonary, and cardio.