Wednesday, 31 July 2013

Its nearest twin

Shares 4 of 5 numbers (6, 33, 37, 38) with the draw of 1 November 2010 — its closest relative in 1,203 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 30% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (30 July 2013): nothing carried over. Chance says 52% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 129 — the 88th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 100. Side-by-side numbers: 37–38. 44% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

38 had not appeared for 26 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 0.4× as often as an average ticket — less popular than most. At 30 million tickets sold, a winner on these numbers would keep about 4% of the jackpot.

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