Monday, 7 January 2019

Its nearest twin

Shares 4 of 5 numbers (4, 5, 14, 18) with the draw of 15 August 2018 — its closest relative in 3,172 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 61% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (6 January 2019): nothing carried over. Chance says 52% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 47 — the 1th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 100. Side-by-side numbers: 4–5, 5–6. 44% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

4 had not appeared for 18 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 2.1× 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.