In Powerball under the 5/49 + 1/42 · Nov 1997 – Oct 2002 rules — 514 draws, 5 from 1–49 (an earlier era).
55times drawn · chance expected 52 +0.37σ
3draws waiting · a wait this long: 81% for any number
9.4average wait between appearances · chance says 9.8
53longest completed wait · 18% chance of one at least that long
49 is drawn as often as chance explains
Drawn 55 times in 514 draws against 52.4 expected, +0.37σ. Each draw is independent: after 3 draws away it is exactly as likely tonight as a number drawn yesterday.
49
Number 49, draw by draw
Drawn 55 times in 514 draws · average wait 9.4 draws · longest completed wait 53 · waiting 3 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 49 has a favourite seat — chance gives a large number the high positions more often. That is the shape of sorting, not of the machine.
It has shared a draw with every one of the other 48 numbers; chance expected about 0.5 still unmet by now. Every pair →
How many people play it
Under the crowd model, 49 is picked about 0.86× as often as an indifferent choice — 33rd most popular of 49. 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: 49 is drawn with probability 5/49 tonight whatever it did last week.