Monday, 10 March 2014

Its nearest twin

Shares 4 of 5 numbers (21, 35, 37, 40) with the draw of 24 March 2011 — its closest relative in 1,422 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 32% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (9 March 2014): nothing carried over. Chance says 51% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 162 — the 99th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 103. No two numbers side by side. 43% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

37 had not appeared for 25 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 0.4× as often as an average ticket — less popular than most. At 30 million tickets sold, a winner on these numbers would keep about 5% of the jackpot.

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