Friday, 14 March 2014

Its nearest twin

Shares 4 of 5 numbers (20, 30, 31, 36) with the draw of 28 August 2013 — its closest relative in 1,425 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 35% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (13 March 2014): 30 carried over. Chance says 52% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 143 — the 96th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 100. Side-by-side numbers: 30–31. 44% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

31 had not appeared for 12 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 0.9× 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.