Thursday, 14 April 2011

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 5 numbers (24, 28, 36) with the draw of 25 February 2011 — its closest relative in 372 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 99% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (13 April 2011): 24, 28 carried over. Chance says 55% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 140 — the 99th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 93. Side-by-side numbers: 23–24, 28–29. 47% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

23 had not appeared for 12 draws. A number waits about 7 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 0.7× as often as an average ticket — less popular than most. At 30 million tickets sold, a winner on these numbers would keep about 2% of the jackpot.

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