Saturday, 7 August 2010

Its nearest twin

Shares 2 of 5 numbers (8, 36) and 1 of 1 stars with the draw of 9 June 2010 — its closest relative in 62 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 99% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (4 August 2010): 9 carried over. Chance says 45% of draws repeat at least one number. Stars: none repeated (4% expected).

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 136 — the 70th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 120. Side-by-side numbers: 8–9. 37% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

8 had not appeared for 17 draws. A number waits about 9 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 0.7× as often as an average ticket — less popular than most. At 30 million tickets sold, a winner on these numbers would keep about 7% of the jackpot.

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