In Mega Millions under the 5/50 + 1/25 · Sep 1996 – Jan 1999 rules — 172 draws, 5 from 1–50 (an earlier era).
18times drawn · chance expected 17 +0.20σ
6draws waiting · a wait this long: 59% for any number
8.9average wait between appearances · chance says 10.0
60longest completed wait · 3% chance of one at least that long
42 is drawn as often as chance explains
Drawn 18 times in 172 draws against 17.2 expected, +0.20σ. Each draw is independent: after 6 draws away it is exactly as likely tonight as a number drawn yesterday.
42
Number 42, draw by draw
Drawn 18 times in 172 draws · average wait 8.9 draws · longest completed wait 60 · waiting 6 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 42 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 11 of the other 49 numbers; chance expects about 11 such strangers by now. Every pair →
How many people play it
Under the crowd model, 42 is picked about 0.86× as often as an indifferent choice — 34th most popular of 50. 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: 42 is drawn with probability 5/50 tonight whatever it did last week.