Thursday, 3 May 2012

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 5 numbers (8, 29, 34) with the draw of 2 January 2012 — its closest relative in 123 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 79% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (2 May 2012): nothing carried over. Chance says 55% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 109 — the 76th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 93. No two numbers side by side. 47% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

22 had not appeared for 22 draws. A number waits about 7 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 0.8× as often as an average ticket — less 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.