Monday, 4 April 2011

Its nearest twin

Shares 4 of 6 numbers (5, 19, 21, 25) with the draw of 18 February 2011 — its closest relative in 206 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 96% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (1 April 2011): 5, 8 carried over. Chance says 85% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 79 — the 51th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 78. No two numbers side by side. 78% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

25 had not appeared for 25 draws. A number waits about 4 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 1.4× 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.