In Mega Millions under the 5/70 + 1/25 · Oct 2017 – Apr 2025 rules — 776 draws, 1 from 1–25 (an earlier era).
43times drawn · chance expected 31 +2.19σ
13draws waiting · a wait this long: 61% for any number
18.0average wait between appearances · chance says 25.0
75longest completed wait · 88% chance of one at least that long
22 is drawn as often as chance explains
Drawn 43 times in 776 draws against 31.0 expected, +2.19σ. Each draw is independent: after 13 draws away it is exactly as likely tonight as a number drawn yesterday.
22
Number 22, draw by draw
Drawn 43 times in 776 draws · average wait 18.0 draws · longest completed wait 75 · waiting 13 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 22 has a favourite seat — chance gives a large number the high positions more often. That is the shape of sorting, not of the machine.
Never drawn alongside 24 of the other 24 numbers; chance expects about 24 such strangers by now. Every pair →
How many people play it
Under the crowd model, 22 is picked about 1.22× as often as an indifferent choice — 14th most popular of 25. 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: 22 is drawn with probability 1/25 tonight whatever it did last week.