Saturday, 4 September 2010

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 5 numbers (4, 26, 31) with the draw of 15 July 2010 — its closest relative in 150 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 75% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (3 September 2010): nothing carried over. Chance says 51% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 138 — the 92th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 103. Side-by-side numbers: 38–39. 43% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

31 had not appeared for 19 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.