Monday, 22 November 2010

Its nearest twin

Shares 4 of 5 numbers (7, 19, 21, 38) with the draw of 23 August 2010 — its closest relative in 229 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 6.6% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (21 November 2010): 7 carried over. Chance says 52% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 88 — the 30th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 100. No two numbers side by side. 44% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

38 had not appeared for 13 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 1.2× as often as an average ticket — more 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.