Wednesday, 6 September 2017

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 5 numbers (16, 27, 47) with the draw of 18 March 2016 — its closest relative in 748 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 97% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (5 September 2017): 16 carried over. Chance says 42% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 157 — the 82th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 128. Side-by-side numbers: 47–48. 35% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

47 had not appeared for 14 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 9% of the jackpot.

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