SOME Mark Six numbers were more than twice as lucky as others last year, with the lower half of the numbers - one to 22 - coming in 10 per cent more often than the upper half.
Not only was that the pattern for last year's 101 draws, but it was followed for all the 498 draws since the 45-number Mark Six game began five years ago.
A university statistician said the figures were 'weak evidence of a systematic effect' that could mean lower numbers were slightly more likely to come up than the higher.
A South China Morning Post analysis showed that the number that appeared most last year was 10, which came up 24 times, including the extra number. That compares with shy 34, which made an appearance only nine times.
That range was in line with what Hong Kong University statistician John Bacon-Shone would expect - between eight and 23 times. The average should be 15.7 times.
But within that, lower numbers might come out more than higher, perhaps due to the orientation of the balls before the draw was made, he said.
Such an effect was unlikely to be due to the balls themselves, he said.
