Monday, 17 January 2011

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 5 numbers (4, 29, 43) with the draw of 22 August 2010 — its closest relative in 284 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 88% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (16 January 2011): 29 carried over. Chance says 48% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 148 — the 92th 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

37 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 0.5× as often as an average ticket — less popular than most. At 30 million tickets sold, a winner on these numbers would keep about 7% of the jackpot.

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