In Mega Millions under the 5/70 + 1/24 · since Apr 2025 rules — 163 draws, 1 from 1–24.
13times drawn · chance expected 7 +2.43σ
20draws waiting · a wait this long: 45% for any number
10.2average wait between appearances · chance says 24.0
43longest completed wait · 89% chance of one at least that long
12 is drawn as often as chance explains
Drawn 13 times in 163 draws against 6.8 expected, +2.43σ. Each draw is independent: after 20 draws away it is exactly as likely tonight as a number drawn yesterday.
12
Number 12, draw by draw
Drawn 13 times in 163 draws · average wait 10.2 draws · longest completed wait 43 · waiting 20 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 small number the low positions more often. That is the shape of sorting, not of the machine.
Never drawn alongside 23 of the other 23 numbers; chance expects about 23 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 24. 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 1/24 tonight whatever it did last week.