Wednesday, 11 January 2012

Its nearest twin

Shares 2 of 5 numbers (1, 4) with the draw of 14 December 2011 — its closest relative in 184 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 100% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (7 January 2012): 14 carried over. Chance says 56% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 61 — the 8th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 90. Side-by-side numbers: 13–14. 48% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

29 had not appeared for 13 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 1.2× 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.