Saturday, 12 February 2011

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 5 numbers (7, 23, 24) with the draw of 2 July 2010 — its closest relative in 310 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 94% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (11 February 2011): nothing carried over. Chance says 51% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 81 — the 19th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 103. Side-by-side numbers: 23–24, 24–25. 43% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

2 had not appeared for 20 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.