Thursday, 25 October 2012

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 5 numbers (4, 28, 42) with the draw of 22 February 2012 — its closest relative in 925 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 100% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (24 October 2012): nothing carried over. Chance says 48% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 131 — the 78th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 110. No two numbers side by side. 40% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

28 had not appeared for 18 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 0.7× as often as an average ticket — less popular than most. At 30 million tickets sold, a winner on these numbers would keep about 5% of the jackpot.

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