Number 17

In Mega Millions under the 5/70 + 1/25 · Oct 2017 – Apr 2025 rules — 776 draws, 5 from 1–70 (an earlier era).

67times drawn · chance expected 55 +1.61σ

3draws waiting · a wait this long: 86% for any number

11.6average wait between appearances · chance says 14.0

64longest completed wait · 46% chance of one at least that long

17 is drawn as often as chance explains

Drawn 67 times in 776 draws against 55.4 expected, +1.61σ. Each draw is independent: after 3 draws away it is exactly as likely tonight as a number drawn yesterday.

Number 17, draw by draw

Drawn 67 times in 776 draws · average wait 11.6 draws · longest completed wait 64 · waiting 3 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 small number the low positions more often. That is the shape of sorting, not of the machine.

1st smallest20 · chance 22.7
2nd smallest30 · chance 29.0
3rd smallest12 · chance 12.8
4th smallest4 · chance 2.3
5th smallest1 · chance 0.1

Every position’s lane →

The company it keeps

Seen most often with these — chance gives every partner about 3.9 shared draws, and the leaders are simply the ones that came out ahead this time.

10 27 46 1 39 40

Never drawn alongside 2 of the other 69 numbers; chance expects about 1 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 — 15th most popular of 70. 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 17 →

Every draw it appeared in

Date	Wait	Position	The draw
2025-03-25	3	3rd	1 5 17 39 62
2025-03-14	34	2nd	3 17 39 42 70
2024-11-15	22	2nd	5 17 35 55 69
2024-08-30	12	2nd	10 17

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: 17 is drawn with probability 5/70 tonight whatever it did last week.

2021-09-17	3	1st	17 32 40 59 61
2021-09-07	4	2nd	15 17 25 32 53
2021-08-24	3	1st	17 18 26 52 67
2021-08-13	3	1st	17 21 35 40 53
2021-08-03	3	3rd	1 9 17 27 34
2021-07-23	3	2nd	13 17 19 40 69
2021-07-13	5	3rd	3 10 17 26 55
2021-06-25	10	1st	17 20 42 45 65
2021-05-21	10	3rd	6 9 17 18 48
2021-04-16	12	1st	17 27 28 50 55
2021-03-05	8	3rd	10 11 17 27 54
2021-02-05	12	2nd	14 17 28 29 44
2020-12-25	35	1st	17 23 36 69 70
2020-08-25	8	4th	8 10 15 17 57
2020-07-28	21	1st	17 20 27 31 34
2020-05-15	3	2nd	11 17 32 33 46
2020-05-05	10	3rd	7 13 17 21 45
2020-03-31	6	2nd	8 17 51 57 70
2020-03-10	12	2nd	6 17 48 54 69
2020-01-28	5	1st	17 36 47 51 62
2020-01-10	4	1st	17 27 49 51 66
2019-12-27	4	1st	17 34 40 63 64
2019-12-13	6	1st	17 21 29 39 56
2019-11-22	7	3rd	7 12 17 49 53
2019-10-29	6	3rd	4 9 17 27 39
2019-10-08	2	4th	5 8 10 17 48
2019-10-01	16	2nd	10 17 39 42 59
2019-08-06	17	2nd	11 17 31 43 55
2019-06-07	6	1st	17 19 27 40 68
2019-05-17	6	2nd	5 17 28 32 63
2019-04-26	19	2nd	9 17 23 30 46
2019-02-19	64	1st	17 24 34 56 65
2018-07-10	4	2nd	1 17 28 56 70
2018-06-26	10	1st	17 25 29 39 60
2018-05-22	21	2nd	16 17 21 36 48
2018-03-09	3	2nd	7 17 18 46 66
2018-02-27	2	2nd	10 17 21 38 43
2018-02-20	4	1st	17 19 23 24 43
2018-02-06	1	2nd	14 17 25 48 58
2018-02-02	4	4th	1 4 14 17 40
2018-01-19	2	2nd	3 17 23 49 66
2018-01-12	13	1st	17 18 33 46 60
2017-11-28	—	2nd	10 17 47 51 61