In Powerball under the 5/49 + 1/42 · Nov 1997 – Oct 2002 rules — 514 draws, 5 from 1–49 (an earlier era).
53times drawn · chance expected 52 +0.08σ
26draws waiting · a wait this long: 7% for any number
9.2average wait between appearances · chance says 9.8
35longest completed wait · 74% chance of one at least that long
9 is drawn as often as chance explains
Drawn 53 times in 514 draws against 52.4 expected, +0.08σ. Each draw is independent: after 26 draws away it is exactly as likely tonight as a number drawn yesterday.
9
Number 9, draw by draw
Drawn 53 times in 514 draws · average wait 9.2 draws · longest completed wait 35 · waiting 26 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 9 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 48 numbers; chance expects about 0.6 such strangers by now. Every pair →
How many people play it
Under the crowd model, 9 is picked about 1.48× as often as an indifferent choice — 2nd most popular of 49. 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: 9 is drawn with probability 5/49 tonight whatever it did last week.