Wednesday, 27 August 2014

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 5 numbers (14, 32, 44) and 0 of 1 stars with the draw of 28 October 2013 — its closest relative in 922 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 99% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (25 August 2014): 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 116 — the 38th 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

44 had not appeared for 17 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 0.8× as often as an average ticket — less popular than most. At 30 million tickets sold, a winner on these numbers would keep about 8% of the jackpot.

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