Wednesday, 15 September 2010

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 6 numbers (6, 13, 17) with the draw of 15 March 2010 — its closest relative in 73 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 83% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (13 September 2010): 17, 42 carried over. Chance says 60% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 133 — the 43th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 138. No two numbers side by side. 53% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

13 had not appeared for 7 draws. A number waits about 8 on average, and a wait this long was not a signal — the machine has no memory of it.

How many people held it

A line like this is played about 0.6× as often as an average ticket — less popular than most. At 30 million tickets sold, a winner on these numbers would keep about 38% of the jackpot.

Illustrative model, calibrated to published studies — not live sales.