Saturday, 21 October 2017

Its nearest twin

Shares 3 of 5 numbers (30, 38, 39) and 1 of 1 stars with the draw of 5 November 2014 — its closest relative in 786 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 100% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (18 October 2017): nothing carried over. Chance says 50% of draws repeat at least one number. Stars: none repeated (17% expected).

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 143 — the 93th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 105. Side-by-side numbers: 29–30, 38–39. 42% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

7 had not appeared for 30 draws. A number waits about 8 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 3% of the jackpot.

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