Wednesday, 7 December 2011

Its nearest twin

Shares 4 of 6 numbers (5, 24, 27, 29) with the draw of 20 April 2011 — its closest relative in 262 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 64% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (5 December 2011): 27, 29 carried over. Chance says 71% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 124 — the 75th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 108. No two numbers side by side. 63% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

21 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 1.4× as often as an average ticket — more popular than most. At 30 million tickets sold, a winner on these numbers would keep about 4% of the jackpot.

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