Tuesday, 17 May 2011

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 5 numbers (3, 8, 13) with the draw of 2 February 2011 — its closest relative in 346 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 98% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (16 May 2011): nothing carried over. Chance says 54% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 59 — the 5th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 95. No two numbers side by side. 46% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

8 had not appeared for 27 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 1.7× 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.