In PowerBall under the 5/50 + 1/20 · since Jun 2018 rules — 867 draws, 1 from 1–20.
49times drawn · chance expected 43 +0.88σ
28draws waiting · a wait this long: 25% for any number
17.4average wait between appearances · chance says 20.0
62longest completed wait · 88% chance of one at least that long
12 is drawn as often as chance explains
Drawn 49 times in 867 draws against 43.4 expected, +0.88σ. Each draw is independent: after 28 draws away it is exactly as likely tonight as a number drawn yesterday.
12
Number 12, draw by draw
Drawn 49 times in 867 draws · average wait 17.4 draws · longest completed wait 62 · waiting 28 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 12 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 19 of the other 19 numbers; chance expects about 19 such strangers by now. Every pair →
How many people play it
Under the crowd model, 12 is picked about 1.34× as often as an indifferent choice — 6th most popular of 20. 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: 12 is drawn with probability 1/20 tonight whatever it did last week.