In PowerBall under the 5/50 + 1/20 · since Jun 2018 rules — 867 draws, 1 from 1–20.
41times drawn · chance expected 43 −0.37σ
54draws waiting · a wait this long: 7% for any number
18.6average wait between appearances · chance says 20.0
79longest completed wait · 52% chance of one at least that long
17 is drawn as often as chance explains
Drawn 41 times in 867 draws against 43.4 expected, −0.37σ. Each draw is independent: after 54 draws away it is exactly as likely tonight as a number drawn yesterday.
17
Number 17, draw by draw
Drawn 41 times in 867 draws · average wait 18.6 draws · longest completed wait 79 · waiting 54 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 17 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, 17 is picked about 1.22× as often as an indifferent choice — 14th 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: 17 is drawn with probability 1/20 tonight whatever it did last week.