Wednesday, 29 April 2015

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 5 numbers (26, 37, 38) with the draw of 23 September 2014 — its closest relative in 1,847 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 100% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (28 April 2015): 35, 38 carried over. Chance says 52% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 144 — the 97th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 100. Side-by-side numbers: 37–38. 44% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

8 had not appeared for 26 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 0.5× as often as an average ticket — less popular than most. At 30 million tickets sold, a winner on these numbers would keep about 4% of the jackpot.

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