Saturday, 9 April 2011

Its nearest twin

Shares 4 of 6 numbers (10, 18, 26, 36) with the draw of 11 December 2010 — its closest relative in 132 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 12% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (6 April 2011): nothing carried over. Chance says 56% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 118 — the 17th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 150. Side-by-side numbers: 9–10, 18–19. 50% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

18 had not appeared for 30 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 1.6× as often as an average ticket — more popular than most. At 30 million tickets sold, a winner on these numbers would keep about 28% of the jackpot.

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