Friday, 4 May 2018

Its nearest twin

Shares 4 of 5 numbers (5, 7, 26, 29) with the draw of 14 May 2015 — its closest relative in 2,924 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 58% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (3 May 2018): 30 carried over. Chance says 52% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 97 — the 44th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 100. Side-by-side numbers: 29–30. 44% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

29 had not appeared for 21 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 2.3× 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.