Saturday, 29 January 2011

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 6 numbers (3, 8, 16) with the draw of 22 December 2010 — its closest relative in 168 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 93% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (26 January 2011): nothing carried over. Chance says 54% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 97 — the 4th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 159. No two numbers side by side. 47% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

8 had not appeared for 16 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 2.0× as often as an average ticket — more popular than most. At 30 million tickets sold, a winner on these numbers would keep about 32% of the jackpot.

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