Wednesday, 2 November 2011

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 5 numbers (1, 9, 16) with the draw of 22 August 2011 — its closest relative in 570 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 100% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (1 November 2011): 38 carried over. Chance says 51% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 72 — the 11th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 103. Side-by-side numbers: 8–9. 43% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

8 had not appeared for 17 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 1.3× 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.