Saturday, 12 March 2016

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 5 numbers (4, 24, 42) with the draw of 14 February 2016 — its closest relative in 542 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 98% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (11 March 2016): 14 carried over. Chance says 48% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 122 — the 66th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 110. No two numbers side by side. 40% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

24 had not appeared for 15 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 0.7× as often as an average ticket — less popular than most. At 30 million tickets sold, a winner on these numbers would keep about 5% of the jackpot.

Illustrative model, calibrated to published studies — not live sales.