In Powerball under the 5/55 + 1/42 · Aug 2005 – Jan 2009 rules — 350 draws, 5 from 1–55 (an earlier era).
25times drawn · chance expected 32 −1.27σ
35draws waiting · a wait this long: 4% for any number
12.6average wait between appearances · chance says 11.0
39longest completed wait · 48% chance of one at least that long
46 is drawn as often as chance explains
Drawn 25 times in 350 draws against 31.8 expected, −1.27σ. Each draw is independent: after 35 draws away it is exactly as likely tonight as a number drawn yesterday.
46
Number 46, draw by draw
Drawn 25 times in 350 draws · average wait 12.6 draws · longest completed wait 39 · waiting 35 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 46 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 54 numbers; chance expects about 8 such strangers by now. Every pair →
How many people play it
Under the crowd model, 46 is picked about 0.86× as often as an indifferent choice — 34th 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: 46 is drawn with probability 5/55 tonight whatever it did last week.