Tuesday, 20 March 2018

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 5 numbers (1, 2, 27) with the draw of 27 January 2018 — its closest relative in 887 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 99% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (17 March 2018): nothing carried over. Chance says 42% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 124 — the 45th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 128. Side-by-side numbers: 1–2. 35% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

2 had not appeared for 19 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 0.9× as often as an average ticket — about as popular as 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.