Tuesday, 10 February 2015

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 5 numbers (31, 37, 39) with the draw of 2 February 2015 — its closest relative in 300 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 93% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (9 February 2015): nothing carried over. Chance says 50% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 148 — the 95th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 105. Side-by-side numbers: 20–21. 42% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

20 had not appeared for 18 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 0.6× as often as an average ticket — less popular than most. At 30 million tickets sold, a winner on these numbers would keep about 4% of the jackpot.

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