Sunday, 6 April 2014

Its nearest twin

Shares 4 of 5 numbers (7, 8, 29, 35) with the draw of 23 January 2012 — its closest relative in 1,228 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 44% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (5 April 2014): 35 carried over. Chance says 56% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 83 — the 37th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 90. Side-by-side numbers: 7–8. 48% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

7 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 1.1× as often as an average ticket — about as popular as 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.