Saturday, 4 December 2010

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 6 numbers (16, 22, 40) with the draw of 7 August 2010 — its closest relative in 96 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 84% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (1 December 2010): 2 carried over. Chance says 56% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 174 — the 76th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 150. No two numbers side by side. 50% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

16 had not appeared for 34 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 0.7× as often as an average ticket — less popular than most. At 30 million tickets sold, a winner on these numbers would keep about 54% of the jackpot.

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