Number 42

In Lotto under the 6/49 + 1/49 · Jan 2010 – Aug 2017 rules — 789 draws, 6 from 1–49 (an earlier era).

79times drawn · chance expected 97 −1.91σ

10draws waiting · a wait this long: 31% for any number

9.9average wait between appearances · chance says 8.2

66longest completed wait · 2% chance of one at least that long

42 is drawn as often as chance explains

Drawn 79 times in 789 draws against 96.6 expected, −1.91σ. Each draw is independent: after 10 draws away it is exactly as likely tonight as a number drawn yesterday. It has also come out as the bonus ball 12 times, counted separately.

Number 42, draw by draw

Drawn 79 times in 789 draws · average wait 9.9 draws · longest completed wait 66 · waiting 10 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 42 has a favourite seat — chance gives a large number the high positions more often. That is the shape of sorting, not of the machine.

1st smallest0 · chance 0.0
2nd smallest0 · chance 0.1
3rd smallest2 · chance 1.3
4th smallest11 · chance 10.3
5th smallest31 · chance 32.7
6th smallest35 · chance 34.6

Every position’s lane →

The company it keeps

Seen most often with these — chance gives every partner about 8.2 shared draws, and the leaders are simply the ones that came out ahead this time.

47 31 40 16 18 6

It has shared a draw with every one of the other 48 numbers; chance expected about 0.0 still unmet by now. Every pair →

How many people play it

Under the crowd model, 42 is picked about 0.86× as often as an indifferent choice — 33rd 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.

Numbers above 31 ×0.86

The model and its sources → · What people believe about 42 →

Every draw it appeared in

Date	Wait	Position	The draw
2017-06-24	3	6th	15 18 26 31 37 42
2017-06-14	1	6th	11 12 14 19 33 42
2017-06-10	66	5th	4 11 12 27 42 47
2016-10-22	14	6th

What this cannot tell you

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: 42 is drawn with probability 6/49 tonight whatever it did last week.

2014-12-10	6	6th	5 10 16 17 36 42
2014-11-19	11	5th	3 10 16 27 42 47
2014-10-11	9	6th	7 8 18 35 40 42
2014-09-10	10	6th	4 8 16 34 38 42
2014-08-06	30	6th	6 15 17 30 40 42
2014-04-23	9	5th	14 20 26 39 42 48
2014-03-22	1	5th	16 32 35 37 42 47
2014-03-19	2	5th	2 9 21 29 42 47
2014-03-12	4	4th	1 31 35 42 45 46
2014-02-26	5	6th	7 18 34 39 41 42
2014-02-08	2	6th	8 16 32 34 38 42
2014-02-01	18	3rd	7 39 42 43 44 47
2013-11-27	3	6th	1 13 19 23 27 42
2013-11-16	8	4th	16 18 37 42 43 45
2013-10-19	10	6th	1 19 33 38 41 42
2013-09-14	14	5th	7 14 16 27 42 43
2013-07-27	10	6th	18 19 31 34 40 42
2013-06-22	12	4th	3 21 36 42 43 44
2013-05-11	5	5th	8 26 27 35 42 49
2013-04-24	6	6th	1 3 4 23 40 42
2013-04-03	2	5th	6 16 31 32 42 48
2013-03-27	5	5th	6 17 19 31 42 43
2013-03-09	1	5th	2 16 33 38 42 48
2013-03-06	22	4th	28 29 40 42 43 44
2012-12-19	13	4th	14 33 34 42 47 48
2012-11-03	5	6th	7 8 20 28 41 42
2012-10-17	11	6th	6 14 20 26 30 42
2012-09-08	10	6th	5 12 17 29 39 42
2012-08-04	21	6th	5 17 18 24 28 42
2012-05-23	7	6th	3 6 11 16 29 42
2012-04-28	6	4th	14 26 32 42 44 48
2012-04-07	17	5th	9 13 31 34 42 43
2012-02-08	13	5th	1 4 12 15 42 44
2011-12-24	35	6th	25 26 29 37 39 42
2011-08-24	1	5th	3 18 21 31 42 45
2011-08-20	1	5th	3 26 28 41 42 45
2011-08-17	29	5th	1 2 20 21 42 49
2011-05-07	5	5th	2 17 22 25 42 47
2011-04-20	3	5th	3 6 13 21 42 49
2011-04-09	25	5th	12 36 38 39 42 47
2011-01-12	4	6th	5 13 28 33 34 42
2010-12-29	2	5th	31 33 39 41 42 48
2010-12-18	5	5th	6 8 30 31 42 48
2010-12-01	5	6th	1 8 15 24 40 42
2010-11-13	29	5th	15 23 26 40 42 46
2010-08-04	19	6th	2 11 15 21 39 42
2010-05-29	1	6th	3 4 6 19 21 42
2010-05-26	4	5th	11 18 39 40 42 44
2010-05-12	3	4th	18 21 33 42 43 46
2010-05-01	1	5th	4 9 13 26 42 44
2010-04-28	7	5th	10 16 20 41 42 48
2010-04-03	2	5th	19 26 32 40 42 47
2010-03-27	12	3rd	15 17 42 44 45 47
2010-02-13	4	6th	17 18 20 30 40 42
2010-01-30	—	4th	11 17 24 42 43 47