Monday, 4 August 2014

Its nearest twin

Shares 4 of 5 numbers (7, 15, 24, 26) with the draw of 4 January 2014 — its closest relative in 1,571 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 75% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (3 August 2014): 2 carried over. Chance says 63% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 74 — the 41th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 78. No two numbers side by side. 54% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

15 had not appeared for 11 draws. A number waits about 6 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 1.5× as often as an average ticket — more popular than most. At 30 million tickets sold, a winner on these numbers would keep about 0% of the jackpot.

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