Number 3

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

100times drawn · chance expected 87 +1.53σ

0draws waiting — it came up last time

8.7average wait between appearances · chance says 10.0

43longest completed wait · 70% chance of one at least that long

3 is drawn as often as chance explains

Drawn 100 times in 865 draws against 86.5 expected, +1.53σ. Each draw is independent: after 0 draws away it is exactly as likely tonight as a number drawn yesterday.

Number 3, draw by draw

Drawn 100 times in 865 draws · average wait 8.7 draws · longest completed wait 43 · drawn in the most recent draw

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.

1st smallest87 · chance 84.2
2nd smallest13 · chance 15.3
3rd smallest0 · chance 0.5
4th smallest0 · chance 0.0
5th smallest0 · chance 0.0

Every position’s lane →

The company it keeps

Seen most often with these — chance gives every partner about 8.2 shared draws, and the leaders are simply the ones that came out ahead this time.

40 13 17 38 45 49

It has shared a draw with every one of the other 49 numbers; chance expected about 0.0 still unmet 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 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
Numbers 1–12 — day and month overlap ×1.10
Culturally lucky numbers 3, 8, 9 ×1.10

The model and its sources → · What people believe about 3 →

Every draw it appeared in

Date	Wait	Position	The draw
2026-10-09	15	1st	3 14 17 19 37
2026-08-18	2	1st	3 7 20 31 39
2026-08-11	4	1st	3 14 26 40 48
2026-07-28	39	1st	3 12 27 36

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

2023-11-21	3	1st	3 13 24 45 49
2023-11-10	1	1st	3 18 21 37 46
2023-11-07	5	1st	3 13 28 31 40
2023-10-20	5	1st	3 7 13 18 42
2023-10-03	5	1st	3 8 15 24 45
2023-09-15	1	1st	3 21 28 35 46
2023-09-12	3	1st	3 15 18 36 45
2023-09-01	2	2nd	1 3 8 33 49
2023-08-25	2	1st	3 4 7 13 24
2023-08-18	21	2nd	1 3 6 7 16
2023-06-06	2	1st	3 9 15 38 44
2023-05-30	3	1st	3 7 38 48 50
2023-05-19	8	1st	3 16 22 42 49
2023-04-21	1	2nd	2 3 6 12 49
2023-04-18	19	1st	3 5 8 15 25
2023-02-10	1	1st	3 5 21 42 46
2023-02-07	4	1st	3 4 23 32 49
2023-01-24	8	1st	3 10 32 40 48
2022-12-27	1	1st	3 19 24 28 45
2022-12-23	15	1st	3 12 13 18 46
2022-11-01	7	1st	3 6 22 29 47
2022-10-07	12	1st	3 12 16 33 45
2022-08-26	12	1st	3 11 17 23 45
2022-07-15	34	1st	3 9 36 44 50
2022-03-18	15	1st	3 12 15 19 22
2022-01-25	6	1st	3 11 29 32 36
2022-01-04	12	1st	3 19 38 45 46
2021-11-23	9	1st	3 18 21 24 28
2021-10-22	30	1st	3 8 17 40 47
2021-07-09	5	1st	3 12 29 31 38
2021-06-22	1	1st	3 11 24 33 41
2021-06-18	3	1st	3 8 19 28 49
2021-06-08	2	2nd	1 3 17 28 50
2021-06-01	2	1st	3 5 23 37 42
2021-05-25	3	1st	3 4 8 25 44
2021-05-14	3	1st	3 16 28 31 48
2021-05-04	4	1st	3 9 17 25 39
2021-04-20	4	1st	3 5 12 32 49
2021-04-06	11	1st	3 13 21 42 45
2021-02-26	2	2nd	1 3 7 41 44
2021-02-19	2	1st	3 17 20 25 47
2021-02-12	16	1st	3 15 35 39 41
2020-12-15	15	1st	3 7 13 34 50
2020-10-23	9	1st	3 6 36 41 43
2020-09-22	2	1st	3 10 28 31 41
2020-09-15	3	1st	3 18 32 40 46
2020-09-04	11	2nd	2 3 11 12 43
2020-07-28	35	1st	3 28 30 38 40
2020-03-27	15	1st	3 8 18 38 45
2020-02-04	22	1st	3 15 23 37 45
2019-11-19	2	1st	3 4 16 43 44
2019-11-12	6	1st	3 5 10 11 25
2019-10-22	6	1st	3 22 31 35 48
2019-10-01	13	1st	3 9 29 32 50
2019-08-16	8	1st	3 10 14 31 41
2019-07-19	1	1st	3 12 13 20 41
2019-07-16	5	1st	3 5 20 23 40
2019-06-28	1	1st	3 13 16 33 41
2019-06-25	2	1st	3 32 33 38 40
2019-06-18	7	2nd	2 3 17 20 33
2019-05-24	1	1st	3 25 29 38 39
2019-05-21	6	1st	3 11 15 33 43
2019-04-30	9	2nd	1 3 20 46 48
2019-03-29	3	1st	3 6 11 13 31
2019-03-19	26	1st	3 16 32 33 36
2018-12-18	3	1st	3 5 14 20 32
2018-12-07	4	1st	3 6 22 33 47
2018-11-23	15	1st	3 6 8 23 30
2018-10-02	6	1st	3 7 15 24 35
2018-09-11	2	1st	3 26 34 40 50
2018-09-04	3	1st	3 13 24 25 41
2018-08-24	4	1st	3 6 25 27 40
2018-08-10	1	1st	3 10 14 43 50
2018-08-07	2	2nd	2 3 19 24 30
2018-07-31	8	1st	3 6 14 34 36
2018-07-03	—	1st	3 38 48 49 50