Wednesday, 22 June 2011

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 5 numbers (4, 8, 31) with the draw of 3 February 2011 — its closest relative in 439 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 100% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (21 June 2011): 4 carried over. Chance says 57% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 86 — the 46th 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

8 had not appeared for 5 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 1.0× as often as an average ticket — about as popular as 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.