Saturday, 1 October 2016

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 5 numbers (5, 13, 16) with the draw of 12 September 2016 — its closest relative in 2,137 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 100% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (30 September 2016): 8, 16 carried over. Chance says 56% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 73 — the 21th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 90. No two numbers side by side. 48% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

13 had not appeared for 3 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 1.3× as often as an average ticket — more 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.