In Mega Millions under the 5/70 + 1/24 · since Apr 2025 rules — 158 draws, 5 from 1–70.
8times drawn · chance expected 11 −1.01σ
10draws waiting · a wait this long: 51% for any number
21.0average wait between appearances · chance says 14.0
53longest completed wait · 14% chance of one at least that long
61 is drawn as often as chance explains
Drawn 8 times in 158 draws against 11.3 expected, −1.01σ. Each draw is independent: after 10 draws away it is exactly as likely tonight as a number drawn yesterday.
61
Number 61, draw by draw
Drawn 8 times in 158 draws · average wait 21.0 draws · longest completed wait 53 · waiting 10 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 61 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 42 of the other 69 numbers; chance expects about 43 such strangers by now. Every pair →
How many people play it
Under the crowd model, 61 is picked about 0.86× as often as an indifferent choice — 36th 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: 61 is drawn with probability 5/70 tonight whatever it did last week.