Friday, 3 September 2010

Its nearest twin

Shares 2 of 5 numbers (1, 12) with the draw of 20 August 2010 — its closest relative in 64 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 100% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (1 September 2010): nothing carried over. Chance says 45% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 45 — the 0th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 120. No two numbers side by side. 37% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

3 had not appeared for 26 draws. A number waits about 9 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 3.5× 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.