Wednesday, 6 March 2013

Its nearest twin

Shares 4 of 5 numbers (8, 20, 21, 31) with the draw of 6 February 2013 — its closest relative in 303 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 7.1% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (2 March 2013): 8 carried over. Chance says 50% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 116 — the 66th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 105. Side-by-side numbers: 20–21. 42% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

20 had not appeared for 8 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 1.1× as often as an average ticket — about as popular as most. At 30 million tickets sold, a winner on these numbers would keep about 2% of the jackpot.

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