Wednesday, 5 September 2012

Its nearest twin

Shares 4 of 6 numbers (21, 25, 31, 35) with the draw of 24 February 2012 — its closest relative in 873 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 89% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (4 September 2012): 25 carried over. Chance says 66% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 130 — the 64th 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

31 had not appeared for 21 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 0.9× as often as an average ticket — about as popular as most. At 30 million tickets sold, a winner on these numbers would keep about 12% of the jackpot.

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