In Powerball under the 5/45 + 1/45 · Apr 1992 – Nov 1997 rules — 578 draws, 5 from 1–45 (an earlier era).
63times drawn · chance expected 64 −0.16σ
18draws waiting · a wait this long: 14% for any number
8.9average wait between appearances · chance says 9.0
30longest completed wait · 87% chance of one at least that long
3 is drawn as often as chance explains
Drawn 63 times in 578 draws against 64.2 expected, −0.16σ. Each draw is independent: after 18 draws away it is exactly as likely tonight as a number drawn yesterday. It has also come out as the bonus ball 13 times, counted separately.
3
Number 3, draw by draw
Drawn 63 times in 578 draws · average wait 8.9 draws · longest completed wait 30 · waiting 18 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 3 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 1 of the other 44 numbers; chance expects about 0.1 such strangers by now. Every pair →
How many people play it
Under the crowd model, 3 is picked about 1.48× as often as an indifferent choice — 2nd most popular of 45. 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: 3 is drawn with probability 5/45 tonight whatever it did last week.