In Powerball Double Play under the 5/69 + 1/26 · since Aug 2021 rules — 809 draws, 5 from 1–69.
44times drawn · chance expected 59 −1.98σ
29draws waiting · a wait this long: 12% for any number
18.0average wait between appearances · chance says 13.8
71longest completed wait · 20% chance of one at least that long
5 is drawn as often as chance explains
Drawn 44 times in 809 draws against 58.6 expected, −1.98σ. Each draw is independent: after 29 draws away it is exactly as likely tonight as a number drawn yesterday.
5
Number 5, draw by draw
Drawn 44 times in 809 draws · average wait 18.0 draws · longest completed wait 71 · waiting 29 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 5 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 4 of the other 68 numbers; chance expects about 5 such strangers by now. Every pair →
How many people play it
Under the crowd model, 5 is picked about 1.34× as often as an indifferent choice — 6th most popular of 69. 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: 5 is drawn with probability 5/69 tonight whatever it did last week.