Thursday, 3 January 2013

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 5 numbers (1, 8, 10) with the draw of 24 May 2012 — its closest relative in 570 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 99% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (2 January 2013): nothing carried over. Chance says 50% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 51 — the 1th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 105. No two numbers side by side. 42% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

18 had not appeared for 15 draws. A number waits about 8 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 2.6× 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.