In Powerball Double Play under the 5/69 + 1/26 · since Aug 2021 rules — 811 draws, 1 from 1–26.
26times drawn · chance expected 31 −0.95σ
9draws waiting · a wait this long: 73% for any number
31.8average wait between appearances · chance says 26.0
150longest completed wait · 7% chance of one at least that long
20 is drawn as often as chance explains
Drawn 26 times in 811 draws against 31.2 expected, −0.95σ. Each draw is independent: after 9 draws away it is exactly as likely tonight as a number drawn yesterday.
20
Number 20, draw by draw
Drawn 26 times in 811 draws · average wait 31.8 draws · longest completed wait 150 · waiting 9 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 20 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 25 of the other 25 numbers; chance expects about 25 such strangers by now. Every pair →
How many people play it
Under the crowd model, 20 is picked about 1.28× as often as an indifferent choice — 13th most popular of 26. 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: 20 is drawn with probability 1/26 tonight whatever it did last week.