How often do consecutive Lotto Max numbers turn up together?

62.2% of Lotto Max draws contain at least one pair of neighbouring numbers, like 17and18. Chance predicts 61.9%.

Across 1,277 draws, 794 had a neighbouring pair where 790 were predicted. Three in a row turned up 120 times against a predicted 111. Draws that look "too tidy" turn up about as often as the arithmetic says they should.

What was measured

Draws counted
1,277
every draw on record
With a neighbouring pair
62.2%
chance predicts 61.9% (+0.2 standard errors)
Neighbouring pairs per draw
0.87
chance predicts 0.85
Three in a row, in total
120
chance predicts 111

Red marks a figure outside the range ordinary variation produces

How to read this what counts as a pair

A neighbouring pair is two numbers one apart, such as 17and18, both in the same draw. Three in a row is three numbers like 171819. Each draw was sorted and checked for both.

The chance prediction is exact. The number of ways to choose 7 numbers with a given number of neighbouring pairs is a counting formula, so no simulation is involved. It is worked out for each draw using that draw's own pool and then added up, because the pool changed size during the record and a larger pool makes neighbours less likely.

How many pairs a draw holds 1,277 draws

Neighbouring pairs in the draw Draws Predicted vs chance
None 483 487 -0.7%
One pair 522 542 -3.7%
Two pairs 229 210 +8.9%
Three or more 43 38 +13.1%

Predicted counts add up each draw's own chance, using that draw's pool.

Which neighbouring pair has come up most 51 pairs ranked

Together most often

PairTogetherPredictedvs chance
18and19 38 22.2 +71.3%
05and06 31 22.2 +39.8%
01and02 30 22.2 +35.2%
07and08 30 22.2 +35.2%
16and17 29 22.2 +30.7%

Together least often

PairTogetherPredictedvs chance
22and23 13 22.2 -41.4%
47and48 14 22.2 -36.9%
34and35 14 22.2 -36.9%
31and32 14 22.2 -36.9%
45and46 15 22.2 -32.4%

A pair is compared only with the draws it could have appeared in, so a pair that exists only under the larger pool is measured over those draws alone.

The recent run latest 200 draws

In the last 100 draws, 52.0% held a neighbouring pair. Over the whole record it is 62.2%, and chance predicts 60.8% for these draws. That is inside the range ordinary variation allows for 100 draws.

87.0%34.5%
2024-11-12 to 2025-01-17: 60.0% (chance predicts 61.6%)2025-01-21 to 2025-03-28: 55.0% (chance predicts 61.6%)2025-04-01 to 2025-06-06: 75.0% (chance predicts 61.6%)2025-06-10 to 2025-08-15: 65.0% (chance predicts 61.6%)2025-08-19 to 2025-10-24: 55.0% (chance predicts 61.6%)2025-10-28 to 2026-01-02: 50.0% (chance predicts 61.6%)2026-01-06 to 2026-03-13: 50.0% (chance predicts 61.6%)2026-03-17 to 2026-05-22: 45.0% (chance predicts 60.6%)2026-05-26 to 2026-07-31: 65.0% (chance predicts 60.0%)2026-08-04 to 2026-10-09: 50.0% (chance predicts 60.0%)
2024-11-12each dot is 20 draws2026-10-09

result for the blockrange ordinary variation allowsoutside that range

A good run says where the measure has been, not where it is going. Each draw is drawn afresh, and a neighbouring pair is exactly as likely next time as it was before.

Applied to the latest draw draw 1277 · 2026-10-09

06101925293950

This draw held no neighbouring pair. Of the five pairs that have come up together most often, 0 appeared in it.

The chance of a given neighbouring pair showing up together in the next draw is 1.58%, the same for every pair, however often it has come up before.

Why the top pair is not a discovery

18and19 lead the list, together 38 times against 22.2 predicted (+71.3%). It is the best of 51 pairs, and the best of 51 tries is above average by definition: rank any 51 pairs of a random record and one has to come first.

1 of the 51 pairs sit more than two standard errors from their predicted count. With 51 tries, about 2.3 would be expected to do that by chance alone. The lowest, 22and23, is the mirror image and means as little. Nothing here says anything about the next draw.

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