 |
 There
were 504 weekly Florida Lotto drawings from May 7, 1988 through
December 20, 1997, involving six out of 49 numbers per draw.
Dividing the 3024 numbers drawn by 49, the average expected frequency
of a number showing up on the winning ticket would be 61.7
No number was drawn exactly 61.7 times, obviously,
and the actual frequencies varied from 38 (for number 33) to 81
(for number 47). Most numbers (39 out of 49) showed up between
50 and 70 times.
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| This
is the same data as shown above, except the frequencies
have been detailed individually, not in groups of five. |
Let us assume that all numbers have an equal chance of
being drawn, and that drawings are independent from one week to
the next. What is the expected frequency of a number being
drawn a certain number of times? Is this any different from
what was observed? Inotherwords, are numbers drawn by another
means than chance? No, not according to the graphical comparison.
The fact that one number was drawn only 38 times, and another
number 81 times, is within the expectations from chance.
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