Tuesday, 9 February 2016

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 5 numbers (12, 17, 29) with the draw of 23 December 2015 — its closest relative in 2,127 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 100% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (8 February 2016): nothing carried over. Chance says 52% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 76 — the 16th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 100. Side-by-side numbers: 16–17. 44% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

2 had not appeared for 27 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 1.9× 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.