Sunday, 25 July 2010

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 5 numbers (9, 10, 30) with the draw of 19 April 2010 — its closest relative in 109 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 64% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (24 July 2010): 9 carried over. Chance says 51% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 99 — the 44th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 103. Side-by-side numbers: 9–10, 29–30. 43% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

10 had not appeared for 20 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 2.4× as often as an average ticket — more popular than 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.