In Mega Millions under the 5/52 + 1/52 · May 2002 – Jun 2005 rules — 324 draws, 5 from 1–52 (an earlier era).
33times drawn · chance expected 31 +0.35σ
12draws waiting · a wait this long: 33% for any number
9.5average wait between appearances · chance says 10.4
36longest completed wait · 61% chance of one at least that long
42 is drawn as often as chance explains
Drawn 33 times in 324 draws against 31.2 expected, +0.35σ. Each draw is independent: after 12 draws away it is exactly as likely tonight as a number drawn yesterday. It has also come out as the bonus ball 5 times, counted separately.
42
Number 42, draw by draw
Drawn 33 times in 324 draws · average wait 9.5 draws · longest completed wait 36 · waiting 12 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 1 of the other 51 numbers; chance expects about 4 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 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: 42 is drawn with probability 5/52 tonight whatever it did last week.