Monday, 1 October 2012

Its nearest twin

Shares 4 of 5 numbers (6, 10, 30, 37) with the draw of 7 March 2011 — its closest relative in 907 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 24% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (30 September 2012): 10, 31 carried over. Chance says 52% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 114 — the 71th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 100. Side-by-side numbers: 30–31. 44% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

37 had not appeared for 16 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 1.0× as often as an average ticket — about as popular as most. At 30 million tickets sold, a winner on these numbers would keep about 2% of the jackpot.

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