Number 3

In Lotto under the 6/42 · since Aug 2020 rules — 642 draws, 6 from 1–42.

99times drawn · chance expected 92 +0.82σ

2draws waiting · a wait this long: 86% for any number

6.4average wait between appearances · chance says 7.0

26longest completed wait · 88% chance of one at least that long

3 is drawn as often as chance explains

Drawn 99 times in 642 draws against 91.7 expected, +0.82σ. Each draw is independent: after 2 draws away it is exactly as likely tonight as a number drawn yesterday.

Number 3, draw by draw

Drawn 99 times in 642 draws · average wait 6.4 draws · longest completed wait 26 · waiting 2 draws now

a completed wait — darker is longer the wait still running — a lower bound, not a finished gap

Where it lands in a sorted draw

Sort a draw and 3 has a favourite seat — chance gives a small number the low positions more often. That is the shape of sorting, not of the machine.

1st smallest70 · chance 76.1
2nd smallest27 · chance 21.7
3rd smallest2 · chance 1.2
4th smallest0 · chance 0.0
5th smallest0 · chance 0.0
6th smallest0 · chance 0.0

Every position’s lane →

The company it keeps

Seen most often with these — chance gives every partner about 12.1 shared draws, and the leaders are simply the ones that came out ahead this time.

21 8 2 39 16 38

It has shared a draw with every one of the other 41 numbers; chance expected about 0.0 still unmet by now. Every pair →

How many people play it

Under the crowd model, 3 is picked about 1.48× as often as an indifferent choice — 2nd most popular of 42. That changes nothing about whether it comes up, and everything about how many ways a jackpot on it would be shared.

Numbers 1–31 — the birthday zone ×1.22
Numbers 1–12 — day and month overlap ×1.10
Culturally lucky numbers 3, 8, 9 ×1.10

The model and its sources → · What people believe about 3 →

Every draw it appeared in

Date	Wait	Position	The draw
2026-10-03	16	1st	3 14 19 20 24 27
2026-08-08	1	2nd	2 3 7 13 23 34
2026-08-05	5	1st	3 13 24 30 33 35
2026-07-18	3	1st	3

What this cannot tell you

Nothing here predicts the next draw. A number’s history is a record of a fair machine’s past, and the machine keeps none of it: 3 is drawn with probability 6/42 tonight whatever it did last week.

2025-03-12	9	2nd	2 3 5 16 21 42
2025-02-08	21	2nd	1 3 8 27 32 38
2024-11-23	19	1st	3 17 19 21 25 34
2024-09-18	3	1st	3 5 21 22 23 26
2024-09-07	1	1st	3 8 17 28 31 36
2024-09-04	9	1st	3 10 16 24 36 38
2024-08-03	1	1st	3 7 8 12 27 39
2024-07-31	8	1st	3 6 10 17 22 37
2024-07-03	5	1st	3 18 35 36 38 39
2024-06-15	4	1st	3 4 5 8 28 38
2024-06-01	3	1st	3 16 26 35 37 38
2024-05-22	4	3rd	1 2 3 5 21 41
2024-05-08	3	3rd	1 2 3 17 21 29
2024-04-27	8	2nd	2 3 6 9 21 27
2024-03-30	1	1st	3 25 26 27 29 38
2024-03-27	5	1st	3 7 16 31 34 36
2024-03-09	5	1st	3 10 16 19 33 37
2024-02-21	3	2nd	1 3 5 6 12 20
2024-02-10	4	1st	3 5 13 26 35 39
2024-01-27	1	1st	3 11 13 18 21 34
2024-01-24	4	1st	3 9 12 20 23 29
2024-01-10	6	1st	3 4 5 19 20 31
2023-12-20	2	1st	3 9 22 36 37 41
2023-12-13	26	1st	3 9 11 18 30 39
2023-09-13	13	1st	3 4 6 14 22 38
2023-07-29	7	2nd	2 3 14 19 20 24
2023-07-05	22	2nd	2 3 10 21 23 26
2023-04-19	7	2nd	1 3 8 16 21 31
2023-03-25	3	1st	3 5 27 35 38 39
2023-03-15	2	1st	3 12 20 22 30 33
2023-03-08	9	1st	3 4 28 33 34 38
2023-02-04	12	2nd	2 3 15 16 22 37
2022-12-24	5	2nd	2 3 21 29 34 39
2022-12-07	2	2nd	1 3 5 9 36 39
2022-11-30	2	1st	3 17 21 22 24 37
2022-11-23	1	2nd	1 3 10 25 28 31
2022-11-19	23	1st	3 10 15 20 36 42
2022-08-31	3	1st	3 7 8 14 16 39
2022-08-20	7	2nd	2 3 11 22 30 42
2022-07-27	5	1st	3 7 8 22 34 36
2022-07-09	4	1st	3 14 16 24 28 30
2022-06-25	2	1st	3 15 17 18 27 29
2022-06-18	2	1st	3 4 11 19 36 39
2022-06-11	10	2nd	1 3 21 31 35 39
2022-05-07	17	1st	3 9 10 16 24 42
2022-03-09	1	1st	3 4 11 35 37 40
2022-03-05	3	1st	3 4 8 27 28 38
2022-02-23	4	2nd	2 3 15 16 18 38
2022-02-09	14	1st	3 10 11 12 21 35
2021-12-18	1	2nd	2 3 15 21 25 28
2021-12-15	1	1st	3 22 28 30 33 39
2021-12-11	5	1st	3 8 11 17 27 32
2021-11-24	2	1st	3 4 8 13 21 33
2021-11-17	2	1st	3 16 20 21 24 34
2021-11-10	7	1st	3 4 6 12 19 38
2021-10-16	3	1st	3 14 28 31 36 37
2021-10-06	3	2nd	2 3 10 16 39 42
2021-09-25	3	1st	3 9 23 24 25 26
2021-09-15	11	2nd	1 3 7 15 18 19
2021-08-07	1	1st	3 18 28 35 38 42
2021-08-04	3	1st	3 8 19 21 31 33
2021-07-24	1	1st	3 8 22 26 29 41
2021-07-21	9	2nd	1 3 15 21 27 32
2021-06-19	2	1st	3 6 20 30 34 36
2021-06-12	6	1st	3 12 13 17 21 29
2021-05-22	20	1st	3 7 13 23 38 39
2021-03-13	7	1st	3 6 8 12 26 35
2021-02-17	4	2nd	2 3 6 18 26 39
2021-02-03	6	1st	3 12 22 27 32 41
2021-01-13	10	1st	3 8 13 24 25 38
2020-12-09	4	1st	3 6 18 22 23 26
2020-11-25	8	1st	3 9 10 21 22 34
2020-10-28	2	1st	3 12 15 17 20 29
2020-10-21	7	1st	3 18 22 33 38 39
2020-09-26	—	1st	3 8 13 24 27 29