Saturday, 25 February 2012

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 5 numbers (2, 3, 17) with the draw of 21 October 2011 — its closest relative in 684 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 100% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (24 February 2012): nothing carried over. Chance says 55% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 63 — the 9th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 93. Side-by-side numbers: 2–3. 47% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

2 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 1.8× 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.