Thursday, 19 February 2015

Its nearest twin

Shares 4 of 5 numbers (12, 23, 26, 27) with the draw of 22 January 2012 — its closest relative in 1,768 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 70% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (18 February 2015): nothing carried over. Chance says 60% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 109 — the 91th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 83. Side-by-side numbers: 26–27. 51% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

21 had not appeared for 8 draws. A number waits about 6 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 1.3× 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.