Saturday, 4 August 2012

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 6 numbers (4, 18, 47) with the draw of 7 April 2012 — its closest relative in 363 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 100% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (1 August 2012): nothing carried over. Chance says 57% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 126 — the 26th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 147. Side-by-side numbers: 4–5. 50% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

5 had not appeared for 17 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 38% of the jackpot.

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