Monday, 26 March 2012

Its nearest twin

Shares 4 of 5 numbers (5, 12, 13, 34) with the draw of 10 January 2012 — its closest relative in 494 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 21% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (25 March 2012): 13 carried over. Chance says 56% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 86 — the 42th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 90. Side-by-side numbers: 12–13. 48% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

12 had not appeared for 7 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 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 2% of the jackpot.

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