In Mega Millions under the 5/52 + 1/52 · May 2002 – Jun 2005 rules — 324 draws, 5 from 1–52 (an earlier era).
27times drawn · chance expected 31 −0.78σ
2draws waiting · a wait this long: 90% for any number
11.0average wait between appearances · chance says 10.4
30longest completed wait · 76% chance of one at least that long
1 is drawn as often as chance explains
Drawn 27 times in 324 draws against 31.2 expected, −0.78σ. Each draw is independent: after 2 draws away it is exactly as likely tonight as a number drawn yesterday. It has also come out as the bonus ball 8 times, counted separately.
1
Number 1, draw by draw
Drawn 27 times in 324 draws · average wait 11.0 draws · longest completed wait 30 · 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 1 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 6 of the other 51 numbers; chance expects about 6 such strangers by now. Every pair →
How many people play it
Under the crowd model, 1 is picked about 1.34× as often as an indifferent choice — 6th most popular of 52. 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: 1 is drawn with probability 5/52 tonight whatever it did last week.