Tuesday, 5 April 2011

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 5 numbers (4, 9, 15) with the draw of 25 February 2011 — its closest relative in 362 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 100% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (4 April 2011): nothing carried over. Chance says 57% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 76 — the 29th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 88. No two numbers side by side. 49% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

4 had not appeared for 38 draws. A number waits about 7 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 1.7× 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.