In Mega Millions under the 5/50 + 1/25 · Sep 1996 – Jan 1999 rules — 172 draws, 1 from 1–25 (an earlier era).
8times drawn · chance expected 7 +0.44σ
25draws waiting · a wait this long: 38% for any number
20.4average wait between appearances · chance says 25.0
56longest completed wait · 54% chance of one at least that long
8 is drawn as often as chance explains
Drawn 8 times in 172 draws against 6.9 expected, +0.44σ. Each draw is independent: after 25 draws away it is exactly as likely tonight as a number drawn yesterday.
8
Number 8, draw by draw
Drawn 8 times in 172 draws · average wait 20.4 draws · longest completed wait 56 · waiting 25 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 8 has a favourite seat — chance gives a small number the low positions more often. That is the shape of sorting, not of the machine.
Never drawn alongside 24 of the other 24 numbers; chance expects about 24 such strangers by now. Every pair →
How many people play it
Under the crowd model, 8 is picked about 1.48× as often as an indifferent choice — 2nd most popular of 25. 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: 8 is drawn with probability 1/25 tonight whatever it did last week.