Saturday, 30 October 2010

Its nearest twin

Shares 4 of 6 numbers (8, 24, 34, 37) with the draw of 4 August 2010 — its closest relative in 205 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 40% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (29 October 2010): 8, 19 carried over. Chance says 66% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 144 — the 82th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 120. No two numbers side by side. 59% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

22 had not appeared for 20 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 0.7× as often as an average ticket — less popular than most. At 30 million tickets sold, a winner on these numbers would keep about 16% of the jackpot.

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