Friday, 2 December 2016

Its nearest twin

Shares 4 of 5 numbers (4, 25, 35, 40) with the draw of 4 December 2014 — its closest relative in 960 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 21% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (1 December 2016): 35 carried over. Chance says 50% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 142 — the 92th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 105. No two numbers side by side. 42% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

38 had not appeared for 26 draws. A number waits about 8 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 0.5× as often as an average ticket — less popular than most. At 30 million tickets sold, a winner on these numbers would keep about 5% of the jackpot.

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