Tuesday, 28 February 2012

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 5 numbers (14, 20, 26) with the draw of 10 February 2012 — its closest relative in 691 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 100% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (27 February 2012): 26 carried over. Chance says 52% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 115 — the 72th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 100. Side-by-side numbers: 26–27, 27–28. 44% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

20 had not appeared for 5 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 1.6× 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.