Number 52

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

82times drawn · chance expected 78 +0.52σ

31draws waiting · a wait this long: 6% for any number

10.2average wait between appearances · chance says 11.2

57longest completed wait · 35% chance of one at least that long

52 is drawn as often as chance explains

Drawn 82 times in 869 draws against 77.6 expected, +0.52σ. Each draw is independent: after 31 draws away it is exactly as likely tonight as a number drawn yesterday.

Number 52, draw by draw

Drawn 82 times in 869 draws · average wait 10.2 draws · longest completed wait 57 · waiting 31 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 52 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 0.0
3rd smallest2 · chance 1.8
4th smallest19 · chance 20.0
5th smallest61 · chance 60.1

Every position’s lane →

The company it keeps

Seen most often with these — chance gives every partner about 6.0 shared draws, and the leaders are simply the ones that came out ahead this time.

13 22 35 3 43 44

It has shared a draw with every one of the other 55 numbers; chance expected about 0.1 still unmet by now. Every pair →

How many people play it

Under the crowd model, 52 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 52 →

Every draw it appeared in

Date	Wait	Position	The draw
2013-07-02	1	4th	36 42 51 52 53
2013-06-28	57	5th	8 15 35 46 52
2012-12-11	6	4th	39 44 51 52 54
2012-11-20	10	5th	9 13

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: 52 is drawn with probability 5/56 tonight whatever it did last week.

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