In Powerball under the 5/55 + 1/42 · Aug 2005 – Jan 2009 rules — 350 draws, 5 from 1–55 (an earlier era).
40times drawn · chance expected 32 +1.52σ
2draws waiting · a wait this long: 91% for any number
8.8average wait between appearances · chance says 11.0
33longest completed wait · 85% chance of one at least that long
12 is drawn as often as chance explains
Drawn 40 times in 350 draws against 31.8 expected, +1.52σ. Each draw is independent: after 2 draws away it is exactly as likely tonight as a number drawn yesterday.
12
Number 12, draw by draw
Drawn 40 times in 350 draws · average wait 8.8 draws · longest completed wait 33 · waiting 2 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 12 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 3 of the other 54 numbers; chance expects about 3 such strangers by now. Every pair →
How many people play it
Under the crowd model, 12 is picked about 1.34× as often as an indifferent choice — 6th most popular of 55. 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: 12 is drawn with probability 5/55 tonight whatever it did last week.