Wednesday, 20 June 2012

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 5 numbers (33, 36, 41) and 0 of 1 stars with the draw of 24 September 2011 — its closest relative in 580 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 95% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (18 June 2012): nothing carried over. Chance says 43% of draws repeat at least one number. Stars: none repeated (10% expected).

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 172 — the 94th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 125. No two numbers side by side. 36% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

36 had not appeared for 18 draws. A number waits about 10 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 0.4× as often as an average ticket — less popular than most. At 30 million tickets sold, a winner on these numbers would keep about 17% of the jackpot.

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