In Powerball Double Play under the 5/69 + 1/26 · since Aug 2021 rules — 804 draws, 5 from 1–69.
61times drawn · chance expected 58 +0.37σ
4draws waiting · a wait this long: 80% for any number
12.7average wait between appearances · chance says 13.8
47longest completed wait · 85% chance of one at least that long
16 is drawn as often as chance explains
Drawn 61 times in 804 draws against 58.3 expected, +0.37σ. Each draw is independent: after 4 draws away it is exactly as likely tonight as a number drawn yesterday.
16
Number 16, draw by draw
Drawn 61 times in 804 draws · average wait 12.7 draws · longest completed wait 47 · waiting 4 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 16 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 1 of the other 68 numbers; chance expects about 2 such strangers by now. Every pair →
How many people play it
Under the crowd model, 16 is picked about 1.22× as often as an indifferent choice — 15th most popular of 69. 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: 16 is drawn with probability 5/69 tonight whatever it did last week.