In Powerball under the 5/59 + 1/35 · Jan 2012 – Oct 2015 rules — 388 draws, 5 from 1–59 (an earlier era).
38times drawn · chance expected 33 +0.93σ
2draws waiting · a wait this long: 92% for any number
10.3average wait between appearances · chance says 11.8
41longest completed wait · 66% chance of one at least that long
23 is drawn as often as chance explains
Drawn 38 times in 388 draws against 32.9 expected, +0.93σ. Each draw is independent: after 2 draws away it is exactly as likely tonight as a number drawn yesterday.
23
Number 23, draw by draw
Drawn 38 times in 388 draws · average wait 10.3 draws · longest completed wait 41 · 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 23 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 2 of the other 58 numbers; chance expects about 4 such strangers by now. Every pair →
How many people play it
Under the crowd model, 23 is picked about 1.04× as often as an indifferent choice — 14th most popular of 59. 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: 23 is drawn with probability 5/59 tonight whatever it did last week.