In Powerball Double Play under the 5/69 + 1/26 · since Aug 2021 rules — 804 draws, 5 from 1–69.
50times drawn · chance expected 58 −1.12σ
8draws waiting · a wait this long: 59% for any number
16.2average wait between appearances · chance says 13.8
63longest completed wait · 37% chance of one at least that long
3 is drawn as often as chance explains
Drawn 50 times in 804 draws against 58.3 expected, −1.12σ. Each draw is independent: after 8 draws away it is exactly as likely tonight as a number drawn yesterday.
3
Number 3, draw by draw
Drawn 50 times in 804 draws · average wait 16.2 draws · longest completed wait 63 · waiting 8 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 3 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 2 of the other 68 numbers; chance expects about 4 such strangers by now. Every pair →
How many people play it
Under the crowd model, 3 is picked about 1.48× as often as an indifferent choice — 2nd 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: 3 is drawn with probability 5/69 tonight whatever it did last week.