Wednesday, 5 December 2018

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 5 numbers (7, 14, 17) with the draw of 26 July 2017 — its closest relative in 1,073 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 99% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (4 December 2018): 1, 14 carried over. Chance says 42% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 48 — the 0th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 128. No two numbers side by side. 35% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

9 had not appeared for 4 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 3.6× as often as an average ticket — more popular than most. At 30 million tickets sold, a winner on these numbers would keep about 2% of the jackpot.

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