New York Lottery Mega Ball has Drawn 26 four times, during last 6 Drawns. What do you think?

Question

04/29/2008 mega ball #26

05/02/2008 mega ball #26

05/06/2008 mega ball #26

05/16/2008 mega ball #26

FOUR times in the last 6 drawns. Is it coincidence? It has never happen before, as far as I know.

Answer 1

Good observation.

On the other hand 4, 13, and 28 have not been drawn for about a year and a half.

By the way, 4 was a hot Mega Ball number in 2006, but it never showed up since September 2006.

You can  check such data at http://us-lotteries.com/Mega_Millions/Me...

Answer 2

it is possible that there's a fault in the mechanism. also, it could be a problem with the shuffling mechanism. however, depending on the total number of numbers, this could be nothing.

for example, if you look at a roulette wheel, it's around 47% red, 47% black, 5% green. if red comes up 10 times in a row, that's not a big deal.

However, the chance is much smaller for the same number (out of 38) to come up repeatedly. However, in the lottery format, the numbers are not being drawn consecutively. so, if you group numbers together say in 7's or 8's, the odds of one out of those 7 or 8 numbers being the same is quite large _across groups._

now lets combine the two examples. let's group spins into 5's, and see how often a red or black appears. As you can imagine, the odds of _not_ getting a red or black in 5 consecutive rolls is almost impossible.

therefore, with a limited number of numbers, in groups, the chances of them appearing in a group are much larger than appearing individually.

Answer 3

It all has to do with global warming...LOL

Answer 4

This is a good example of how even the most random drawing patterns can have deviations from the norm.

It means nothing, the likelyhood of 26 coming up again over the next week is exactly the same as it has always been, unless the mechanism has a fault.

Answer 5

It is random which numbers appear. So the likelihood of number 26 appearing next week is just the same as always.