Friday, 1 April 2016

Its nearest twin

Shares 5 of 6 numbers (3, 10, 18, 20, 21) with the draw of 22 May 2014 — its closest relative in 1,249 draws. Chance gave a match this close a 56% likelihood somewhere in that history.

From the draw just before (31 March 2016): 10 carried over. Chance says 85% of draws repeat at least one number.

Sum and shape

The numbers add up to 76 — the 44th percentile of all possible tickets, around a middle of 78. Side-by-side numbers: 3–4, 20–21. 78% of draws have at least one such pair.

The longest wait in this draw

18 had not appeared for 9 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.