Number 56

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

73times drawn · chance expected 78 −0.55σ

0draws waiting — it came up last time

12.1average wait between appearances · chance says 11.2

74longest completed wait · 8% chance of one at least that long

56 is drawn as often as chance explains

Drawn 73 times in 869 draws against 77.6 expected, −0.55σ. Each draw is independent: after 0 draws away it is exactly as likely tonight as a number drawn yesterday.

Number 56, draw by draw

Drawn 73 times in 869 draws · average wait 12.1 draws · longest completed wait 74 · 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 56 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 smallest0 · chance 0.0
4th smallest0 · chance 0.0
5th smallest73 · chance 73.0

Every position’s lane →

The company it keeps

Seen most often with these — chance gives every partner about 5.3 shared draws, and the leaders are simply the ones that came out ahead this time.

14 5 31 12 44 6

It has shared a draw with every one of the other 55 numbers; chance expected about 0.3 still unmet by now. Every pair →

How many people play it

Under the crowd model, 56 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 56 →

Every draw it appeared in

Date	Wait	Position	The draw
2013-10-18	11	5th	5 20 45 48 56
2013-09-10	58	5th	2 12 18 54 56
2013-02-19	11	5th	1 15 19 30 56
2013-01-11	6	5th	24 29

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

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