Saturday, 31 December 2016

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 5 numbers (17, 25, 31) with the draw of 31 January 2016 — its closest relative in 835 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 100% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (30 December 2016): 25, 31 carried over. Chance says 48% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 122 — the 66th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 110. No two numbers side by side. 40% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

17 had not appeared for 8 draws. A number waits about 9 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 1.0× as often as an average ticket — about as popular as 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.