In Powerball under the 5/55 + 1/42 · Aug 2005 – Jan 2009 rules — 350 draws, 5 from 1–55 (an earlier era).
31times drawn · chance expected 32 −0.15σ
19draws waiting · a wait this long: 18% for any number
11.0average wait between appearances · chance says 11.0
52longest completed wait · 21% chance of one at least that long
50 is drawn as often as chance explains
Drawn 31 times in 350 draws against 31.8 expected, −0.15σ. Each draw is independent: after 19 draws away it is exactly as likely tonight as a number drawn yesterday.
50
Number 50, draw by draw
Drawn 31 times in 350 draws · average wait 11.0 draws · longest completed wait 52 · waiting 19 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 50 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 3 of the other 54 numbers; chance expects about 5 such strangers by now. Every pair →
How many people play it
Under the crowd model, 50 is picked about 0.90× as often as an indifferent choice — 32nd 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: 50 is drawn with probability 5/55 tonight whatever it did last week.