Thursday, 6 September 2012

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 5 numbers (5, 27, 33) with the draw of 22 August 2012 — its closest relative in 754 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 100% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (5 September 2012): 5, 33 carried over. Chance says 53% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 103 — the 58th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 98. No two numbers side by side. 45% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

27 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 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 3% of the jackpot.

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