Wednesday, 8 February 2012

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 5 numbers (2, 13, 31) with the draw of 29 January 2012 — its closest relative in 669 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 100% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (7 February 2012): 16 carried over. Chance says 61% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 79 — the 47th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 80. Side-by-side numbers: 16–17. 52% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

2 had not appeared for 10 draws. A number waits about 6 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 0.9× 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.