In Mega Millions under the 5/50 + 1/25 · Sep 1996 – Jan 1999 rules — 172 draws, 1 from 1–25 (an earlier era).
5times drawn · chance expected 7 −0.73σ
21draws waiting · a wait this long: 44% for any number
29.8average wait between appearances · chance says 25.0
67longest completed wait · 24% chance of one at least that long
20 is drawn as often as chance explains
Drawn 5 times in 172 draws against 6.9 expected, −0.73σ. Each draw is independent: after 21 draws away it is exactly as likely tonight as a number drawn yesterday.
20
Number 20, draw by draw
Drawn 5 times in 172 draws · average wait 29.8 draws · longest completed wait 67 · waiting 21 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 20 has a favourite seat — chance gives a large number the high positions more often. That is the shape of sorting, not of the machine.
Never drawn alongside 24 of the other 24 numbers; chance expects about 24 such strangers by now. Every pair →
How many people play it
Under the crowd model, 20 is picked about 1.28× as often as an indifferent choice — 13th most popular of 25. 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: 20 is drawn with probability 1/25 tonight whatever it did last week.
Mega Millions number 20 (star deck) — how often, how long a wait, and with whom — LotteryOracle