Monday, 2 July 2012

Its nearest twin

Shares 4 of 6 numbers (4, 8, 10, 17) with the draw of 8 October 2011 — its closest relative in 349 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 31% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (30 June 2012): nothing carried over. Chance says 57% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 98 — the 6th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 147. No two numbers side by side. 50% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

8 had not appeared for 18 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 1.7× as often as an average ticket — more popular than most. At 30 million tickets sold, a winner on these numbers would keep about 24% of the jackpot.

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