Saturday, 15 May 2010

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 6 numbers (22, 28, 42) with the draw of 20 February 2010 — its closest relative in 38 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 42% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (12 May 2010): 26 carried over. Chance says 52% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 143 — the 27th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 165. No two numbers side by side. 46% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

17 had not appeared for 15 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 1.6× as often as an average ticket — more popular than most. At 30 million tickets sold, a winner on these numbers would keep about 46% of the jackpot.

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