Wednesday, 6 January 2016

Its nearest twin

Shares 4 of 5 numbers (1, 21, 30, 34) with the draw of 10 September 2013 — its closest relative in 1,868 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 58% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (5 January 2016): 21 carried over. Chance says 56% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 115 — the 87th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 90. Side-by-side numbers: 29–30. 48% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

34 had not appeared for 31 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.