How big are the gaps between Lotto 6/49 numbers?
Sort a Lotto 6/49 draw and the commonest distance between neighbouring numbers is 1: 12.2% of all gaps, where chance predicts 12.2%.
6 numbers leave 5 gaps, and across 4,458 draws that is 22,290 of them. Chance points at the same size: small gaps are the most numerous because there are more ways to fit the rest of the draw around them. The widest gap of a draw has averaged 15.68 against a predicted 15.64, the narrowest 1.89 against 1.88.
What was measured 5 gaps per draw
Put a draw in order and measure each step from one number to the next. A draw holding 070820 has gaps of 1 and 12. Two numbers side by side give a gap of 1, which is the smallest a gap can be.
Every predicted figure here is computed from each draw's own pool and then added up. A gap of 45 only exists once the pool is large enough to hold it, so a single history wide rate would print a shortfall at every wide gap that is an artefact of the pool, not of the draws. This game has drawn from one pool of 49 numbers throughout, so the per draw sum and a single rate agree, and the sum is kept because it stays right if the pool ever changes.
The record 4,458 draws, 22,290 gaps
Red marks a figure outside the range ordinary variation produces
| Gap | Seen | Share | Chance | SE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2,710 | 12.16% | 12.24% | -0.41 |
| 2 | 2,480 | 11.13% | 10.97% | +0.77 |
| 3 | 2,236 | 10.03% | 9.80% | +1.17 |
| 4 | 1,901 | 8.53% | 8.74% | -1.11 |
| 5 | 1,728 | 7.75% | 7.77% | -0.08 |
| 6 | 1,505 | 6.75% | 6.88% | -0.78 |
| 7 | 1,377 | 6.18% | 6.08% | +0.59 |
| 8 | 1,223 | 5.49% | 5.36% | +0.84 |
| 9 | 1,031 | 4.63% | 4.71% | -0.56 |
| 10 | 933 | 4.19% | 4.12% | +0.51 |
| 11 | 745 | 3.34% | 3.59% | -1.99 |
| 12 | 711 | 3.19% | 3.12% | +0.63 |
| 13 or more | 3,710 | 16.64% | 16.62% | +0.10 |
SE is the gap between seen and predicted divided by one standard error. The last row bundles every gap of 13 and above, so it is large by construction and does not compete with the single sizes above it. Thirteen rows are read here and none of them sits outside the range ordinary variation produces.
Recent trend last 100 draws, then blocks of 20
result for the blockrange ordinary variation allowsoutside that range
Each point is one block of 20 draws: the average widest gap in that block. The band is what chance predicts for those draws, computed from their own pools, which is why it is not a flat line. A point outside the band is marked.
Applied to this draw draw 4458 · 2026-10-10
The numbers are the draw, the rings between them are the gaps. Its widest gap is 17 where chance predicted 15.64 for a draw from 49 numbers, and its narrowest is 1 against a predicted 1.88.
| Gap size | How many | Chance |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 0.61 |
| 4 | 1 | 0.44 |
| 5 | 1 | 0.39 |
| 6 | 1 | 0.34 |
| 13 or more | 1 | 0.83 |
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