In Mega Millions under the 5/70 + 1/24 · since Apr 2025 rules — 158 draws, 5 from 1–70.
17times drawn · chance expected 11 +1.77σ
9draws waiting · a wait this long: 55% for any number
9.1average wait between appearances · chance says 14.0
38longest completed wait · 66% chance of one at least that long
17 is drawn as often as chance explains
Drawn 17 times in 158 draws against 11.3 expected, +1.77σ. Each draw is independent: after 9 draws away it is exactly as likely tonight as a number drawn yesterday.
17
Number 17, draw by draw
Drawn 17 times in 158 draws · average wait 9.1 draws · longest completed wait 38 · waiting 9 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 17 has a favourite seat — chance gives a small number the low positions more often. That is the shape of sorting, not of the machine.
Never drawn alongside 20 of the other 69 numbers; chance expects about 26 such strangers by now. Every pair →
How many people play it
Under the crowd model, 17 is picked about 1.22× as often as an indifferent choice — 15th most popular of 70. That changes nothing about whether it comes up, and everything about how many ways a jackpot on it would be shared.
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: 17 is drawn with probability 5/70 tonight whatever it did last week.