Number 48

In Mega Millions under the 5/56 + 1/46 · Jun 2005 – Oct 2013 rules — 869 draws, 5 from 1–56 (an earlier era).

101times drawn · chance expected 78 +2.78σ

0draws waiting — it came up last time

8.7average wait between appearances · chance says 11.2

43longest completed wait · 86% chance of one at least that long

48 looks unusual on its own — and unremarkable among 56 numbers

Drawn 101 times in 869 draws against 77.6 expected, +2.78σ. Testing all 56 numbers at once means about 0.6 should look this way by luck alone, so the threshold tightens to 1.8e-4 and this does not pass it.

Number 48, draw by draw

Drawn 101 times in 869 draws · average wait 8.7 draws · longest completed wait 43 · drawn in the most recent draw

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.

1st smallest0 · chance 0.0
2nd smallest0 · chance 0.8
3rd smallest13 · chance 9.0
4th smallest39 · chance 38.4
5th smallest49 · chance 52.8

Every position’s lane →

The company it keeps

Seen most often with these — chance gives every partner about 7.3 shared draws, and the leaders are simply the ones that came out ahead this time.

17 2 22 9 40 54

It has shared a draw with every one of the other 55 numbers; chance expected about 0.0 still unmet 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 56. That changes nothing about whether it comes up, and everything about how many ways a jackpot on it would be shared.

Numbers above 31 ×0.86

The model and its sources → · What people believe about 48 →

Every draw it appeared in

Date	Wait	Position	The draw
2013-10-18	2	4th	5 20 45 48 56
2013-10-11	8	5th	3 27 37 45 48
2013-09-13	19	4th	9 22 28 48 54
2013-07-09	6	5th	3 21

What this cannot tell you

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 5/56 tonight whatever it did last week.

2011-11-29	2	4th	17 29 43 48 52
2011-11-22	20	5th	4 16 23 33 48
2011-09-13	3	4th	22 31 43 48 56
2011-09-02	3	3rd	25 44 48 49 55
2011-08-23	7	4th	11 21 44 48 49
2011-07-29	9	5th	8 10 22 47 48
2011-06-28	11	5th	12 17 27 47 48
2011-05-20	1	5th	10 17 19 45 48
2011-05-17	9	5th	1 2 17 25 48
2011-04-15	15	5th	22 23 33 39 48
2011-02-22	4	4th	15 22 23 48 55
2011-02-08	1	5th	25 35 36 47 48
2011-02-04	2	4th	6 20 29 48 55
2011-01-28	32	3rd	14 33 48 49 50
2010-10-08	11	4th	24 29 37 48 50
2010-08-31	3	5th	10 20 29 47 48
2010-08-20	6	5th	4 13 20 29 48
2010-07-30	15	4th	11 30 40 48 52
2010-06-08	15	4th	12 18 28 48 54
2010-04-16	2	4th	10 16 31 48 50
2010-04-09	7	4th	15 18 39 48 53
2010-03-16	1	3rd	3 22 48 52 56
2010-03-12	3	4th	2 15 25 48 53
2010-03-02	6	4th	9 12 47 48 56
2010-02-09	4	5th	2 17 20 26 48
2010-01-26	27	5th	7 8 38 39 48
2009-10-23	12	3rd	27 45 48 54 56
2009-09-11	6	3rd	16 27 48 49 54
2009-08-21	7	4th	9 38 44 48 49
2009-07-28	17	5th	4 17 24 25 48
2009-05-29	4	5th	23 30 36 39 48
2009-05-15	6	5th	7 12 24 36 48
2009-04-24	3	4th	9 20 21 48 49
2009-04-14	3	4th	4 11 22 48 50
2009-04-03	1	5th	16 22 38 39 48
2009-03-31	22	4th	14 39 47 48 53
2009-01-13	9	5th	22 25 33 36 48
2008-12-12	4	5th	10 16 19 27 48
2008-11-28	9	5th	10 30 44 46 48
2008-10-28	5	5th	6 39 45 46 48
2008-10-10	6	5th	14 15 43 46 48
2008-09-19	43	4th	2 9 41 48 51
2008-04-22	2	4th	3 22 31 48 54
2008-04-15	6	4th	12 13 27 48 50
2008-03-25	5	4th	38 42 43 48 53
2008-03-07	21	5th	19 32 33 41 48
2007-12-25	2	4th	19 36 37 48 52
2007-12-18	21	4th	3 23 46 48 49
2007-10-05	8	5th	10 19 37 40 48
2007-09-07	3	5th	14 19 27 34 48
2007-08-28	13	3rd	37 40 48 53 56
2007-07-13	12	4th	7 39 41 48 53
2007-06-01	6	5th	12 19 29 32 48
2007-05-11	12	4th	28 30 33 48 54
2007-03-30	9	4th	15 23 37 48 53
2007-02-27	3	5th	18 31 44 45 48
2007-02-16	2	5th	17 35 40 46 48
2007-02-09	15	4th	32 39 46 48 49
2006-12-19	7	5th	9 32 37 42 48
2006-11-24	9	5th	14 35 40 47 48
2006-10-24	20	4th	5 25 41 48 51
2006-08-15	13	5th	10 12 22 44 48
2006-06-30	10	4th	20 40 46 48 54
2006-05-26	1	5th	12 14 20 47 48
2006-05-23	2	4th	17 21 28 48 54
2006-05-16	12	4th	7 24 40 48 50
2006-04-04	5	3rd	9 25 48 51 56
2006-03-17	5	4th	8 11 23 48 52
2006-02-28	6	5th	2 4 35 36 48
2006-02-07	24	5th	2 16 25 30 48
2005-11-15	18	5th	2 4 5 40 48
2005-09-13	11	4th	13 24 44 48 52
2005-08-05	5	3rd	3 5 48 50 53
2005-07-19	1	3rd	7 13 48 51 54
2005-07-15	2	5th	9 13 25 36 48
2005-07-08	1	4th	9 23 45 48 50
2005-07-05	—	3rd	22 38 48 50 55