Monday, 23 January 2012

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 4 numbers (5, 12, 35) and 0 of 1 stars with the draw of 1 November 2010 — its closest relative in 214 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 40% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (19 January 2012): nothing carried over. Chance says 40% of draws repeat at least one number. Stars: none repeated (3% expected).

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 71 — the 47th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 72. No two numbers side by side. 31% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

35 had not appeared for 26 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 0.8× as often as an average ticket — less popular than most. At 30 million tickets sold, a winner on these numbers would keep about 0% of the jackpot.

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