In Mega Millions under the 5/70 + 1/24 · since Apr 2025 rules — 162 draws, 1 from 1–24.
6times drawn · chance expected 7 −0.29σ
1draws waiting · a wait this long: >99% for any number
28.6average wait between appearances · chance says 24.0
86longest completed wait · 13% chance of one at least that long
3 is drawn as often as chance explains
Drawn 6 times in 162 draws against 6.8 expected, −0.29σ. Each draw is independent: after 1 draws away it is exactly as likely tonight as a number drawn yesterday.
3
Number 3, draw by draw
Drawn 6 times in 162 draws · average wait 28.6 draws · longest completed wait 86 · waiting 1 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 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.
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, 3 is picked about 1.48× as often as an indifferent choice — 2nd 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: 3 is drawn with probability 1/24 tonight whatever it did last week.
Mega Millions number 3 (star deck) — how often, how long a wait, and with whom — LotteryOracle