Thursday, 10 May 2018

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 5 numbers (20, 24, 25) with the draw of 3 January 2018 — its closest relative in 719 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 100% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (9 May 2018): nothing carried over. Chance says 50% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 102 — the 45th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 105. Side-by-side numbers: 24–25, 25–26. 42% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

24 had not appeared for 11 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 2.2× 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.