Friday, 7 January 2011

Its nearest twin

Shares 4 of 6 numbers (17, 24, 28, 32) with the draw of 28 May 2010 — its closest relative in 119 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 37% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (5 January 2011): 18 carried over. Chance says 71% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 123 — the 73th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 108. Side-by-side numbers: 17–18. 63% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

28 had not appeared for 9 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 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.