Number 26

In PowerBall under the 5/50 + 1/20 · since Jun 2018 rules — 865 draws, 5 from 1–50.

69times drawn · chance expected 87 −1.98σ

2draws waiting · a wait this long: 90% for any number

12.6average wait between appearances · chance says 10.0

82longest completed wait · 1% chance of one at least that long

26 is drawn as often as chance explains

Drawn 69 times in 865 draws against 86.5 expected, −1.98σ. Each draw is independent: after 2 draws away it is exactly as likely tonight as a number drawn yesterday.

Number 26, draw by draw

Drawn 69 times in 865 draws · average wait 12.6 draws · longest completed wait 82 · waiting 2 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 26 has a favourite seat — chance gives a large number the high positions more often. That is the shape of sorting, not of the machine.

1st smallest1 · chance 3.5
2nd smallest18 · chance 16.5
3rd smallest27 · chance 27.0
4th smallest20 · chance 18.0
5th smallest3 · chance 4.1

Every position’s lane →

The company it keeps

Seen most often with these — chance gives every partner about 5.6 shared draws, and the leaders are simply the ones that came out ahead this time.

39 8 17 21 24 31

It has shared a draw with every one of the other 49 numbers; chance expected about 0.2 still unmet by now. Every pair →

How many people play it

Under the crowd model, 26 is picked about 1.22× as often as an indifferent choice — 15th most popular of 50. That changes nothing about whether it comes up, and everything about how many ways a jackpot on it would be shared.

Numbers 1–31 — the birthday zone ×1.22

The model and its sources → · What people believe about 26 →

Every draw it appeared in

Date	Wait	Position	The draw
2026-10-02	15	2nd	15 26 27 28 39
2026-08-11	12	3rd	3 14 26 40 48
2026-06-30	1	2nd	21 26 40 42 44
2026-06-26	20	2nd	17 26 37 40

What this cannot tell you

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: 26 is drawn with probability 5/50 tonight whatever it did last week.

2024-04-12	7	2nd	22 26 42 43 45
2024-03-19	16	4th	7 15 19 26 36
2024-01-23	16	4th	9 16 21 26 39
2023-11-28	7	4th	4 17 25 26 46
2023-11-03	12	4th	1 8 24 26 31
2023-09-22	13	4th	8 9 19 26 27
2023-08-08	9	3rd	17 18 26 39 46
2023-07-07	6	4th	8 21 25 26 29
2023-06-16	7	3rd	13 21 26 30 50
2023-05-23	13	3rd	20 24 26 28 38
2023-04-07	32	5th	9 15 21 22 26
2022-12-16	6	1st	26 28 36 43 48
2022-11-25	10	3rd	7 16 26 34 40
2022-10-21	13	3rd	16 18 26 35 41
2022-09-06	8	3rd	2 8 26 31 34
2022-08-09	16	2nd	6 26 39 42 43
2022-06-14	1	3rd	5 23 26 46 48
2022-06-10	4	3rd	12 25 26 27 49
2022-05-27	7	3rd	7 24 26 27 50
2022-05-03	4	2nd	24 26 35 39 44
2022-04-19	14	3rd	12 25 26 28 43
2022-03-01	1	3rd	4 15 26 38 39
2022-02-25	3	3rd	6 12 26 40 45
2022-02-15	5	3rd	2 9 26 27 32
2022-01-28	4	4th	1 12 21 26 48
2022-01-14	21	3rd	12 22 26 29 49
2021-11-02	12	4th	11 24 25 26 38
2021-09-21	1	2nd	18 26 41 44 47
2021-09-17	21	4th	8 10 17 26 39
2021-07-06	27	4th	1 16 18 26 39
2021-04-02	82	5th	4 8 15 25 26
2020-06-16	29	2nd	4 26 27 29 41
2020-03-06	3	3rd	6 23 26 28 47
2020-02-25	9	4th	4 10 17 26 31
2020-01-24	2	3rd	5 11 26 48 49
2020-01-17	16	4th	7 8 18 26 31
2019-11-22	12	5th	5 17 18 20 26
2019-10-11	34	4th	15 16 17 26 43
2019-06-14	23	2nd	24 26 27 35 39
2019-03-26	10	4th	1 8 24 26 30
2019-02-19	9	4th	14 18 21 26 35
2019-01-18	4	3rd	8 23 26 38 40
2019-01-04	33	4th	7 9 24 26 29
2018-09-11	16	2nd	3 26 34 40 50
2018-07-17	—	2nd	12 26 34 35 44