In Powerball Double Play under the 5/69 + 1/26 · since Aug 2021 rules — 804 draws, 5 from 1–69.
52times drawn · chance expected 58 −0.85σ
4draws waiting · a wait this long: 80% for any number
15.6average wait between appearances · chance says 13.8
60longest completed wait · 45% chance of one at least that long
42 is drawn as often as chance explains
Drawn 52 times in 804 draws against 58.3 expected, −0.85σ. Each draw is independent: after 4 draws away it is exactly as likely tonight as a number drawn yesterday.
42
Number 42, draw by draw
Drawn 52 times in 804 draws · average wait 15.6 draws · longest completed wait 60 · 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 42 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 2 of the other 68 numbers; chance expects about 3 such strangers by now. Every pair →
How many people play it
Under the crowd model, 42 is picked about 0.86× as often as an indifferent choice — 35th 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: 42 is drawn with probability 5/69 tonight whatever it did last week.