Friday, 5 October 2012

Its nearest twin

Shares 4 of 5 numbers (10, 15, 26, 28) with the draw of 25 July 2011 — its closest relative in 493 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 11% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (4 October 2012): 7, 26 carried over. Chance says 50% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 86 — the 22th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 105. No two numbers side by side. 42% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

28 had not appeared for 19 draws. A number waits about 8 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 2.4× as often as an average ticket — more popular than most. At 30 million tickets sold, a winner on these numbers would keep about 1% of the jackpot.

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