Visits from Holidays Past

What a year it has been for Mega Millions! When we launched Lottery Binge back in May, we saw mellow periods, and an unprecedented “six-peat”. The December 30th, 2016 drawing not only ended the year with a bang, but had another surprise when we looked at everything closely.

The {3-1-1-1} Pattern made its 54th appearance, thanks to winning numbers 6, 21, 33, 39, 43, and MB 2.

Winning Mega Millions numbers from lotterytrend-megamillions.com.
Winning Mega Millions numbers from lotterytrend-megamillions.com.

As of Friday, this Pattern has appeared in 16.2% of the 334 Mega Millions drawings. We last saw this Pattern a little before Christmas, in the December 20th drawing.

The [1-1-3-1] General Order made its 21st appearance, and has now played in 38.9% of the 54 drawings that the {3-1-1-1} Pattern has played and 6.29% of all drawings. Prior to Friday, the [1-1-3-1] General Order previously played in the November 29th, 2016 drawing.

The 1 1 3 0 0 1 Specific Order made its fourth appearance. With that said, this Specific Order has now played in 19% of the 21 drawings where the [1-1-3-1] General Order has played, 7.41% of the 54 drawings where the {3-1-1-1} Pattern has played, and in 1.20% of all Mega Millions drawings. What makes the 1 1 3 0 0 1 Specific Order interesting is that this Specific Order was last seen in the January 1st, 2016 drawing! We can certainly say that Mega Millions ended 2016 the way it started.

Another quirk in Friday’s drawing was the repeat appearance of the Three-Number Combination 33, 39, and MB 2.

Snippet of Three-Number Combinations. The repeating Combination is in the red box. From lotterytrend-megamillions.com.
Snippet of Three-Number Combinations. The repeating Combination is in the red box. From lotterytrend-megamillions.com.

This Combination made its debut on July 4th, 2014. What a way to end the year!

Will Mega Millions begin the new year as strongly as it finished 2016, or will it decide to mellow out?

Cranking It Up

New Year’s is right around the corner, and there were no signs of slowing down for either Lotto Texas or Powerball. Both lotteries saw their most commonly played Patterns make an appearance, and Powerball saw a repeating Three-Number Combination. Let’s take a closer look at what the night of December 28, 2016 had to offer.

Lotto Texas

With 733 appearances, the {3-2-1} Pattern is far and away the most commonly seen Lotto Texas Pattern. The occasion was marked by winning numbers 10, 11, 12, 36, 43, and 47.

Winning Texas Lotto Numbers. From lotterytrend.com.
Winning Texas Lotto Numbers. From lotterytrend.com.

This Pattern has now played in 52.1% of the 1407 Lotto Texas drawings to date. Prior to Wednesday, the {3-2-1} Pattern previously played in the December 21st drawing exactly one week ago.

Our Lotto Texas coverage concludes with the 3 1 2 Specific Order, now making its 131st appearance. This Specific Order has appeared in 17.9% of the 733 drawings where the {3-2-1} Pattern has played, and in 9.31% of all drawings. We last saw the 3 1 2 Specific Order in the December 10, 2016 drawing.

Powerball

As we mentioned earlier, Powerball also saw its most commonly played Pattern. The {2-1-1-1-1} managed to hold on to its #1 ranking, thanks to winning numbers 16, 23, 30, 44, 58, and PB 4.

Winning Powerball numbers. From lotterytrend-powerball.com.
Winning Powerball numbers. From lotterytrend-powerball.com.

Now with 45 appearances, the {2-1-1-1-1} Pattern has played in 34.9% of the 129 Powerball drawings. Like the {3-2-1} Pattern in Lotto Texas, Powerball’s {2-1-1-1-1} Pattern was also seen just one week ago.

Next, the [2-1-1-1-1] General Order made its eighth appearance, the first since the December 17th, 2016 drawing. This General Order has played in 17.8% of the 45 drawings where the {2-1-1-1-1} Pattern has played, and in 6.20% of all drawings. Prior to Wednesday, the [2-1-1-1-1] General Order played in the December 17, 2016 drawing.

The 0 2 1 1 1 1 Specific Order made its second appearance. With that said, this Specific Order has appeared in 25% of the eight drawings where the [2-1-1-1-1] General Order has played, 4.44% of the 45 drawings where the {2-1-1-1-1} Pattern has played, and 1.55% of all Powerball drawings. The 0 2 1 1 1 1 Specific Order made its debut in the May 8, 2016 drawing.

One of the evening’s biggest highlights was the repeat appearance of the Three-Number Combination 16, 30, and 44, which made its debut in the October 12, 2016 drawing.

The repeating Three-Number Combination is highlighted in the red box. From lotterytrend-powerball.com.
The repeating Three-Number Combination is highlighted in the red box. From lotterytrend-powerball.com.

Saturday’s drawing falls on New Year’s Eve. Will Lotto Texas and Powerball greet the new year with great gusto, or will the fireworks fizzle out?

The Shape of Things to Come?

Now that Christmas is over, it’s almost time to say goodbye to 2016 and look forward to the future. After a quiet weekend, Mega Millions went full steam ahead in the December 27th drawing. The prospect of a big blowout to end the year seemed promising.

One hint of the blowout came from the {2-2-1-1} Pattern, now having made 103 appearances. The winning numbers this time around were 2, 28, 30, 38, 39, and MB 11.

Winning Mega Millions numbers. From lotterytrend-megamillions.com.
Winning Mega Millions numbers. From lotterytrend-megamillions.com.

As of Tuesday, this Pattern has now played in 30.9% of the 333 Mega Millions drawings, and has appeared more than any other Pattern save the {2-1-1-1-1} Pattern. The {2-2-1-1} Pattern was last seen in the December 13th, 2016 drawing.

The [1-2-2-1] General Order made its 30th appearance, its first since the December 2nd, 2016 drawing. This General Order has now played in 29.1% of the 103 drawings where the {2-2-1-1} Pattern has appeared, and in 9.01% of all Mega Millions drawings.

Next, the 1 2 2 0 0 1 Specific Order made its sixth appearance. As of Tuesday, this Specific Order has played in 20% of the 30 drawings where the [1-2-2-1] General Order appeared, 5.83% of the 103 drawings where the {2-2-1-1} Pattern has appeared, and in 1.80% of all Mega Millions drawings. The 1 2 2 0 0 1 Specific Order was previously seen in the September 16th, 2016 drawing.

Another hint, and possibly the largest one, was three Three-Number Combinations making their second appearance. Every one of these Combinations made their debut at least a year ago. The Combinations were

  • 28, 30, and 38, which debuted in the September 22nd, 2015 drawing
  • 28, 30, and MB 11, which debuted in the November 11th, 2014 drawing and
  • 2, 30, and 38, which debuted in the November 24th, 2015 drawing.
Repeating Three-Number Combinations are inside the red boxes. From lotterytrend-megamillions.com.
Repeating Three-Number Combinations are inside the red boxes. From lotterytrend-megamillions.com.

Friday will be the last Mega Millions drawing of 2016. Will Mega Millions truly go out with a bang, or were all suggestions of it premature?

A Modest Stocking Stuffer

It’s not every year that the Lotto Texas and Powerball drawings fall on Christmas Eve! While the parties were commencing and little kids found it hard to sleep, things went on as scheduled in the lottery world. Thankfully, we weren’t left with a lump of coal.

Lotto Texas

The {3-2-1} Pattern decided to take a break and let the {4-2} Pattern play instead. The winning numbers were 5, 8, 13, 15, 39, and 42.

Winning Texas Lottery numbers. From lotterytrend.com.
Winning Texas Lottery numbers. From lotterytrend.com.

Now with 155 appearances, this Pattern has played in 11.0% of the 1406 Lotto Texas drawings. Also of note is how the {4-2} Pattern is now tied with the {4-1-1-1} Pattern. We last saw the {4-2} Pattern play a while back in the December 14, 2016 drawing.

The 4 0 2 Specific Order made its 22nd appearance, its first since the August 20, 2016 drawing. This Specific Order has now played in 14.2% of the 155 drawings where the {4-2} Pattern has appeared, and in 1.56% of all drawings.

Powerball

The {2-2-1-1} Pattern made its 43rd appearance, thanks to winning numbers 28, 38, 42, 51, 52, and PB 21.

Winning Powerball numbers. From lotterytrend-powerball.com.
Winning Powerball numbers. From lotterytrend-powerball.com.

This Pattern has now played in 33.6% of the 128 Powerball drawings to date. While it appears that the {2-2-1-1} is playing catch-up (again) to the {2-1-1-1-1}, it’s premature to assume that it will catch up in the next drawing. Like with the Lotto Texas Pattern we just discussed, Powerball’s {2-2-1-1} Pattern previously played in the December 14, 2016 drawing.

Next, the [1-2-2-1] General Order made its 15th appearance, the first since the September 24, 2016 drawing. This General Order has now played in 34.9% of the 43 drawings where the {2-2-1-1} Pattern has appeared, and in 11.7% of all drawings.

Our Christmas coverage concludes with 0 1 2 2 0 1 Specific Order, now having appeared three times. This Specific Order has now played in 20% of the 15 drawings where the [1-2-2-1] General Order appeared, 6.98% of the 43 drawings where the {2-2-1-1} Pattern appeared, and in 2.34% of all drawings. The 0 1 2 2 0 1 Specific Order previously played in the August 6, 2016 drawing.

With Christmas come and gone, we start to say goodbye to 2016 and look ahead to the future. Will Lotto Texas and Powerball go out with a bang, or will they end the year with a murmur?

Resting Up for New Year’s

What better way to kick off the Christmas weekend than with…a mellow night? For anyone who hoped to see an Australia Play or a repeating Three-Number Combination in the December 23rd Mega Millions drawing, we’re sorry to disappoint. Even those who wanted to see a {3-1-1-1} Pattern encore were out of luck. But, we did see the most commonly played Pattern.

Like it is with Powerball (for now), the {2-1-1-1-1} Pattern is the most commonly played Mega Millions Pattern to date. The 131st appearance of this Pattern was thanks to winning numbers 21, 30, 39, 60, 69, and MB 15.

Winning Mega Millions numbers. From lotterytrend-powerball.com.
Winning Mega Millions numbers. From lotterytrend-megamillions.com.

The {2-1-1-1-1} Pattern has now played in 25.2% of the 332 drawings. We last saw this Pattern earlier in the month, back on December 6th.

The [2-1-1-1-1] General Order made its 33rd appearance, its first since October 25th, 2016. As of Friday’s drawing, this General Order has played in 25.2% of the 131 drawings where the {2-1-1-1-1} Pattern has appeared, and in 9.94% of the 332 Mega Millions drawings.

Finally, the 0 2 1 1 1 1 Specific Order made its sixth appearance. This Specific Order has now played in 18.2% of the 33 drawings where the [2-1-1-1-1] General Order has appeared, 4.58% of the 131 drawings where the {2-1-1-1-1} Pattern has appeared, and 1.81% of all 332 drawings. We last saw the 0 2 1 1 1 1 Specific Order play in the May 13th, 2016 drawing.

With one week to go before 2017, will Mega Millions end the year with a bang, or keep on its mellow streak?

A Most Common Cause

December 21st, 2016 was the start of winter, or summer if you’re reading our blog from the Southern Hemisphere. It also marked the halfway point in the week before Christmas. This December 21st saw Lotto Texas and Powerball share common ground.

Lotto Texas

The {3-2-1} Pattern made its 732nd appearance, thanks to winning numbers 7, 16, 22, 24, 28, and 54.

Winning Texas Lottery numbers. From lotterytrend.com.
Winning Texas Lottery numbers. From lotterytrend.com.

As of Wednesday’s drawing, this Pattern has now appeared in 52.1% of the 1405 drawings. We last saw this Pattern a few weeks back in the December 10th drawing. The {3-2-1} Pattern remains far and away the most commonly seen Pattern.

Our Lotto Texas coverage concludes with the 122nd appearance of the 2 3 1 Specific Order. This Specific Order has played in 16.7% of the 732 drawings where the {3-2-1} Pattern has played, and 8.68% of all Lotto Texas drawings. We last saw the 2 3 1 Specific Order in the November 26th, 2016 drawing.

Powerball

Like Lotto Texas, Powerball saw its most commonly seen Pattern. The {2-1-1-1-1} asserted itself with an encore appearance. This occasion was marked by winning numbers 25, 33, 40, 54, 68, and PB 3.

Winning Powerball numbers. From lotterytrend-powerball.com.
Winning Powerball numbers. From lotterytrend-powerball.com.

Having now appeared in 44 drawings, this Pattern has now played in 34.6% of the 127 Powerball drawings. Recall that the {2-1-1-1-1} Pattern previously played in this past Saturday’s drawing.

Next, we come to the [1-2-1-1-1] General Order, now making its eleventh appearance. This General Order has now played in 25% of the 44 drawings where the {2-1-1-1-1} Pattern has appeared, and 8.66% of all Powerball drawings. We last saw the [1-2-1-1-1] General Order in the November 23rd, 2016 drawing.

The 0 1 2 1 1 1 Specific Order made its second appearance. With that said, this Specific Order has appeared in 18.2% of the 11 drawings where the [1-2-1-1-1] General Order has appeared, 4.54% of the 44 drawings where the {2-1-1-1-1} Pattern has appeared, and in 1.57% of all drawings. The 0 1 2 1 1 1 Specific Order made its debut in the November 18th, 2015 drawing.

There’s only a few more shopping days until Christmas, and the next drawing will occur on Christmas Eve. Will Lotto Texas and Powerball stuff our stockings to the brim, or leave us a lump of coal?

A Fireball to Welcome Winter

(Note: Replace “Winter” with “Summer” if you’re reading from the Southern Hemisphere)

Ladies and gentlemen, we’re in the home stretch. It’s the last week before Christmas and things started warming up in Mega Millions. In fact, the December 20th, 2016 drawing was fiery compared to Friday’s drawing. So grab your wassail and pull up a chair as we go into the belly of the Mega Millions beast.

Tuesday’s drawing presented the {3-1-1-1} Pattern to us. Now with 53 appearances, this Pattern isn’t commonly seen. The 53rd appearance was made possible by winning numbers 1, 12, 14, 48, 65, and MB 2.

Winning Mega Millions numbers. From lotterytrend-megamillions.com.
Winning Mega Millions numbers. From lotterytrend-megamillions.com.

The {3-1-1-1} Pattern has now played in 16.0% of the 331 Mega Millions drawings. We last saw this Pattern in the November 29th, 2016 drawing.

The [3-1-1-1] General Order made its 18th appearance, its first since the October 4th, 2016 drawing. As of Tuesday, this General Order has played in approximately 34% of the 53 drawings where the {3-1-1-1} Pattern appeared, and in 5.44% of all drawings.

We now come to the 3 0 0 1 1 1 Specific Order, making its third appearance. This Specific Order has played in 16.667% of the 18 drawings where the [3-1-1-1] General Order has appeared, 5.66% of the 53 drawings where the {3-1-1-1} Pattern has played, and in 0.91% of all drawings. The 3 0 0 1 1 1 Specific Order previously played in the February 20th, 2015 drawing.

Last, but not least, we saw a repeating Three-Number Combination. The lucky numbers were 14, 48, and MB 2.

Snippet of Three-Number Combinations from lotterytrend-megamillions.com. The repeating Combination is in the red box.
Snippet of Three-Number Combinations from lotterytrend-megamillions.com. The repeating Combination is in the red box.

This Three-Number Combination made its debut in the April 26th, 2016 drawing.

With one more Mega Millions drawing left before Christmas, what will Mega Millions gift us with?

 

Break? What Break?

With a good chunk of the Northern Hemisphere in the grip of some powerfully cold air, it doesn’t look like much of a warm-up is coming anytime soon. Of course, Lotto Texas and Powerball didn’t get that message. While Mega Millions gave us a quiet start to the weekend on Friday, Saturday night’s lotteries had some noteworthy developments.

Lotto Texas

One of these developments in the December 17, 2016 Lotto Texas drawing was the appearance of the {5-1} Pattern. This rarely-seen Pattern was thanks to 16, 42, 44, 45, 49, 51.

Winning Texas Lotto numbers from lotterytrend.com.
Winning Texas Lotto numbers from lotterytrend.com.

Having now made 49 appearances, the {5-1} Pattern has played in 3.49% of the 1404 drawings to date. We last saw this Pattern in the September 28, 2016 drawing.

The 1 0 5 Specific Order made its ninth appearance, its first since the September 30th, 2015 drawing. This Specific Order has played in 18.4% of the 49 drawings where the {5-1} Pattern has appeared, and in 0.64% of all Lotto Texas drawings.

Our Lotto Texas coverage ends with a repeat appearance of the Four-Number Combination 16, 42, 44, and 51.

Snippet of Four-Number Combinations. The repeating Combination is in the red box.
Snippet of Four-Number Combinations. The repeating Combination is in the red box.

This Combination made its debut in the September 24, 2014 drawing.

Powerball

Powerball narrowly averted the (in)famous Pattern Tango between the {2-2-1-1} and {2-1-1-1-1} Patterns. We saw the {2-1-1-1-1} Pattern make its 43rd appearance, allowing it to break the tie and hold on to its title as Most Commonly Played Pattern. The winning numbers for this occasion were 1, 8, 16, 40, 48, and PB 10.

Winning Powerball numbers from lotterytrend-powerball.com.
Winning Powerball numbers from lotterytrend-powerball.com.

With 43 appearance, the {2-1-1-1-1} Pattern has played in 34.1% of the 126 Powerball drawings. This Pattern previously played just before (US) Thanksgiving: November 23, 2016.

Next, the [2-1-1-1-1] General Order made its seventh appearance, its first since the August 31, 2016 drawing. This General Order has played in 16.3% of the 43 drawings where the {2-1-1-1-1} Pattern played and in 5.56% of all Powerball drawings.

Finally, the 2 1 1 1 0 1 Specific Order appeared for the second time. As of Saturday’s drawing, this Specific Order has played in 28.6% of the seven drawings where the [2-1-1-1-1] General Order has appeared, 4.65% of the 43 drawings where the {2-1-1-1-1} Pattern played, and in 1.59% of all drawings. The 2 1 1 1 0 1 Specific Order made its debut earlier this year in the January 30, 2016 drawing.

With one more week until Christmas, and two weeks left in 2016, what does the rest of the year have in store? Will Lotto Texas and Powerball end the year with a bang, or will they be mellow?

Mid-Month Breather

Christmas is fast approaching. Kids have been let out for the holiday, or soon will be, and Christmas shopping madness will be ratcheting up. Perhaps it was a good thing that Mega Millions decided to gift us with a breather.

The December 16th drawing was the 22nd appearance of the {3-2-1} Pattern. This not oft-seen Pattern was thanks to winning numbers 1, 8, 15, 36, 43, and MB 6.

Winning Mega MIllions numbers from lotterytrend-megamillions.com.
Winning Mega MIllions numbers from lotterytrend-megamillions.com.

The {3-2-1} Pattern has now played in 6.67% of the 330 Mega Millions drawings to date. Prior to Friday’s drawing, we last saw this Pattern on November 18, 2016.

The [3-2-1] General Order made its 10th appearance, its first since the November 8, 2016 drawing. As of Friday’s drawing, this General Order has appeared in approximately 45.5% of the 22 drawings where the {3-2-1} Pattern played, and in 3.03% of all drawings.

The highlight of this otherwise quiet evening was the debut of the 3 0 2 0 0 1 Specific Order. With that said, this Specific Order has now appeared in 10% of the 10 drawings where the [3-2-1] General Order has played, 4.55% of the 22 drawings where the {3-2-1} Pattern has played, and 0.30% of all drawings.

As we look ahead to the last week of Christmas shopping, will Mega Millions gift us with more rarely-seen plays? Will another Specific Order make its debut?

A Night of Polar Opposites

The December 14, 2016 Lotto Texas and Powerball drawings couldn’t be any more different. Lotto Texas saw a Pattern that has played a respectable amount of times. Meanwhile, Powerball saw a Pattern that plays quite often, and has been known to go back-and-forth with another Pattern in terms of the most number of times played.

Lotto Texas

Wednesday’s Lotto Texas drawing gave us the {4-2} Pattern, brought about by winning numbers 29, 35, 38, 39, 49, and 53.

Winning Lotto Texas numbers. From lotterytrend.com.
Winning Lotto Texas numbers. From lotterytrend.com.

Now with 154 appearances, the {4-2} Pattern has now played in approximately 11% of the 1403 Lotto Texas drawings. Prior to Wednesday, we last saw this Pattern a couple of months ago; October 8th, to be precise.

Our Lotto Texas coverage concludes with the 28th appearance of the 0 2 4 Specific Order. This Specific Order has now played in 18.2% of the 154 drawings where the {4-2} Pattern was the winning Pattern and in 2% of all Lotto Texas drawings. The 0 2 4 Specific Order previously played in the May 25, 2016 drawing.

Powerball

Once again, the {2-2-1-1} Pattern has tied with the {2-1-1-1-1} Pattern when it comes to the number of times played. The 42nd appearance of the {2-2-1-1} Pattern is thanks to winning numbers 18, 26, 37, 39, 66, and PB 15.

Winning Powerball numbers. From lotterytrend-powerball.com.
Winning Powerball numbers. From lotterytrend-powerball.com.

The {2-2-1-1} Pattern has now played in 33.6% of the 125 Powerball drawings. We last saw this Pattern about a couple of weeks ago in the December 3, 2016 drawing.

The [2-2-1-1] General Order made its 16th appearance, and it too was last seen in the December 3rd drawing. This General Order has now appeared in 38.1% of the 42 drawings where the {2-2-1-1} Pattern has appeared, and in 1.28% of all Powerball drawings.

Finally, we come to the 0 2 2 0 1 1 Specific Order, which has now played three times. As of Wednesday’s drawing, this Specific Order has played in 18.75% of the 16 drawings where [2-2-1-1] was the General Order of the evening, 7.14% of the 42 drawings where the {2-2-1-1} Pattern played, and 1.28% of all drawings. To see when the 0 2 2 0 1 1 Specific Order previously played, we need to go back to the June 11, 2016 drawing.

With the last (sane) weekend of Christmas shopping coming up, what gifts will Lotto Texas and Powerball leave for us on Saturday?