Friday, 28 February 2014

Its nearest twin

Shares 4 of 5 numbers (15, 23, 28, 29) with the draw of 11 July 2013 — its closest relative in 1,412 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 31% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (27 February 2014): nothing carried over. Chance says 51% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 114 — the 67th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 103. Side-by-side numbers: 28–29. 43% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

29 had not appeared for 24 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 1.6× 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.