In Powerball Double Play under the 5/69 + 1/26 · since Aug 2021 rules — 811 draws, 1 from 1–26.
37times drawn · chance expected 31 +1.06σ
38draws waiting · a wait this long: 23% for any number
19.9average wait between appearances · chance says 26.0
79longest completed wait · 82% chance of one at least that long
5 is drawn as often as chance explains
Drawn 37 times in 811 draws against 31.2 expected, +1.06σ. Each draw is independent: after 38 draws away it is exactly as likely tonight as a number drawn yesterday.
5
Number 5, draw by draw
Drawn 37 times in 811 draws · average wait 19.9 draws · longest completed wait 79 · waiting 38 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 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, 5 is picked about 1.34× as often as an indifferent choice — 6th 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: 5 is drawn with probability 1/26 tonight whatever it did last week.