Wednesday, 22 December 2010

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 5 numbers (7, 20, 36) with the draw of 18 August 2010 — its closest relative in 74 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 58% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (18 December 2010): 17 carried over. Chance says 54% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 101 — the 59th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 95. Side-by-side numbers: 20–21. 46% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

20 had not appeared for 17 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 1.0× 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.