Saturday, 18 October 2014

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 5 numbers (24, 25, 27) with the draw of 4 December 2013 — its closest relative in 1,648 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 100% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (17 October 2014): 27 carried over. Chance says 48% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 101 — the 36th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 110. Side-by-side numbers: 24–25. 40% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

8 had not appeared for 25 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 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.