Tuesday, 23 August 2011

Its nearest twin

Shares 5 of 6 numbers (1, 8, 10, 14, 20) with the draw of 7 April 2011 — its closest relative in 287 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 17% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (22 August 2011): 1 carried over. Chance says 85% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 75 — the 41th 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

10 had not appeared for 5 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 1.6× 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.