Monday, 14 October 2013

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 4 numbers (5, 20, 28) and 0 of 1 stars with the draw of 5 January 2012 — its closest relative in 394 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 61% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (10 October 2013): nothing carried over. Chance says 40% of draws repeat at least one number. Stars: 34 repeated (3% expected).

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 74 — the 53th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 72. Side-by-side numbers: 20–21. 31% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

20 had not appeared for 14 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 1.5× as often as an average ticket — more 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.