Wednesday, 1 January 2014

Its nearest twin

Shares 2 of 4 numbers (20, 26) with the draw of 30 July 2012 — its closest relative in 584 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 100% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (30 December 2013): nothing carried over. Chance says 20% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 115 — the 18th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 156. No two numbers side by side. 15% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

26 had not appeared for 31 draws. A number waits about 19 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 4% of the jackpot.

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