Monday, 18 May 2015

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 5 numbers (20, 31, 34) with the draw of 28 March 2015 — its closest relative in 1,856 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 100% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (17 May 2015): nothing carried over. Chance says 52% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 131 — the 90th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 100. Side-by-side numbers: 31–32. 44% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

31 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 0.6× as often as an average ticket — less popular than most. At 30 million tickets sold, a winner on these numbers would keep about 3% of the jackpot.

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