Wednesday, 23 February 2011

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 6 numbers (20, 27, 29) with the draw of 29 January 2011 — its closest relative in 321 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 100% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (22 February 2011): 20 carried over. Chance says 66% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 120 — the 49th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 120. No two numbers side by side. 59% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

4 had not appeared for 22 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 1.8× as often as an average ticket — more popular than most. At 30 million tickets sold, a winner on these numbers would keep about 6% of the jackpot.

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