In Mega Millions under the 5/50 + 1/25 · Sep 1996 – Jan 1999 rules — 172 draws, 5 from 1–50 (an earlier era).
20times drawn · chance expected 17 +0.71σ
3draws waiting · a wait this long: 81% for any number
8.7average wait between appearances · chance says 10.0
26longest completed wait · 76% chance of one at least that long
48 is drawn as often as chance explains
Drawn 20 times in 172 draws against 17.2 expected, +0.71σ. Each draw is independent: after 3 draws away it is exactly as likely tonight as a number drawn yesterday.
48
Number 48, draw by draw
Drawn 20 times in 172 draws · average wait 8.7 draws · longest completed wait 26 · waiting 3 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 48 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 8 of the other 49 numbers; chance expects about 10 such strangers by now. Every pair →
How many people play it
Under the crowd model, 48 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: 48 is drawn with probability 5/50 tonight whatever it did last week.