Wednesday, 28 March 2012

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 5 numbers (16, 28, 30) with the draw of 18 June 2011 — its closest relative in 206 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 94% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (24 March 2012): 8 carried over. Chance says 56% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 116 — the 88th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 90. No two numbers side by side. 48% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

16 had not appeared for 11 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 0.8× as often as an average ticket — less 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.