Thursday, 22 May 2014

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 5 numbers (5, 12, 28) with the draw of 23 February 2014 — its closest relative in 1,505 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 100% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (21 May 2014): 11, 29 carried over. Chance says 52% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 85 — the 26th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 100. Side-by-side numbers: 11–12, 28–29. 44% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

12 had not appeared for 12 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 2.1× 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.