In Powerball under the 5/59 + 1/35 · Jan 2012 – Oct 2015 rules — 388 draws, 5 from 1–59 (an earlier era).
29times drawn · chance expected 33 −0.71σ
2draws waiting · a wait this long: 92% for any number
13.4average wait between appearances · chance says 11.8
61longest completed wait · 13% chance of one at least that long
42 is drawn as often as chance explains
Drawn 29 times in 388 draws against 32.9 expected, −0.71σ. Each draw is independent: after 2 draws away it is exactly as likely tonight as a number drawn yesterday.
42
Number 42, draw by draw
Drawn 29 times in 388 draws · average wait 13.4 draws · longest completed wait 61 · 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 42 has a favourite seat — chance gives a large number the high positions more often. That is the shape of sorting, not of the machine.
Never drawn alongside 7 of the other 58 numbers; chance expects about 8 such strangers by now. Every pair →
How many people play it
Under the crowd model, 42 is picked about 0.91× as often as an indifferent choice — 32nd 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.
No documented preference lifts or lowers it — the model treats it as an even pick.
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: 42 is drawn with probability 5/59 tonight whatever it did last week.