Sunday, 4 March 2012

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 5 numbers (1, 16, 31) with the draw of 10 June 2011 — its closest relative in 693 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 99% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (3 March 2012): nothing carried over. Chance says 48% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 69 — the 6th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 110. Side-by-side numbers: 16–17. 40% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

17 had not appeared for 29 draws. A number waits about 9 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 2.1× as often as an average ticket — more popular than most. At 30 million tickets sold, a winner on these numbers would keep about 1% of the jackpot.

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