Number 17

In PowerBall under the 5/45 + 1/20 · Oct 2009 – Jun 2018 rules — 896 draws, 5 from 1–45 (an earlier era).

98times drawn · chance expected 100 −0.17σ

15draws waiting · a wait this long: 19% for any number

9.1average wait between appearances · chance says 9.0

34longest completed wait · 87% chance of one at least that long

17 is drawn as often as chance explains

Drawn 98 times in 896 draws against 99.6 expected, −0.17σ. Each draw is independent: after 15 draws away it is exactly as likely tonight as a number drawn yesterday.

Number 17, draw by draw

Drawn 98 times in 896 draws · average wait 9.1 draws · longest completed wait 34 · waiting 15 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 17 has a favourite seat — chance gives a small number the low positions more often. That is the shape of sorting, not of the machine.

1st smallest11 · chance 14.8
2nd smallest47 · chance 37.8
3rd smallest30 · chance 32.7
4th smallest9 · chance 11.3
5th smallest1 · chance 1.3

Every position’s lane →

The company it keeps

Seen most often with these — chance gives every partner about 8.9 shared draws, and the leaders are simply the ones that came out ahead this time.

9 42 12 34 23 27

It has shared a draw with every one of the other 44 numbers; chance expected about 0.0 still unmet by now. Every pair →

How many people play it

Under the crowd model, 17 is picked about 1.22× as often as an indifferent choice — 15th most popular of 45. That changes nothing about whether it comes up, and everything about how many ways a jackpot on it would be shared.

Numbers 1–31 — the birthday zone ×1.22

The model and its sources → · What people believe about 17 →

Every draw it appeared in

Date	Wait	Position	The draw
2018-05-01	2	2nd	8 17 29 40 42
2018-04-24	4	3rd	6 16 17 39 43
2018-04-10	7	3rd	2 14 17 31 34
2018-03-16	18	2nd	8 17

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: 17 is drawn with probability 5/45 tonight whatever it did last week.

2016-03-18	5	2nd	14 17 26 32 33
2016-03-01	15	4th	4 8 15 17 27
2016-01-08	2	2nd	15 17 38 39 43
2016-01-01	12	2nd	13 17 24 34 40
2015-11-17	8	1st	17 29 35 38 40
2015-10-20	3	3rd	13 14 17 35 44
2015-10-09	6	2nd	14 17 32 41 43
2015-09-18	10	2nd	5 17 25 40 45
2015-08-14	22	2nd	2 17 26 32 43
2015-05-29	14	3rd	4 12 17 25 29
2015-04-10	4	3rd	12 13 17 22 28
2015-03-24	1	2nd	5 17 21 25 36
2015-03-20	12	2nd	11 17 27 34 42
2015-02-06	8	1st	17 23 36 38 42
2015-01-09	19	4th	2 13 15 17 31
2014-11-04	2	2nd	12 17 19 24 36
2014-10-28	3	3rd	9 10 17 23 33
2014-10-17	2	2nd	6 17 22 27 35
2014-10-10	17	4th	4 9 14 17 26
2014-08-12	7	2nd	10 17 26 29 31
2014-07-18	27	2nd	14 17 19 22 35
2014-04-11	3	1st	17 23 33 41 42
2014-04-01	2	2nd	14 17 24 27 34
2014-03-25	2	2nd	2 17 19 29 34
2014-03-18	30	3rd	1 13 17 32 35
2013-12-03	1	2nd	12 17 26 27 30
2013-11-29	12	3rd	11 12 17 18 27
2013-10-18	13	2nd	1 17 19 20 34
2013-09-03	1	1st	17 28 32 33 36
2013-08-30	23	3rd	9 13 17 38 41
2013-06-11	2	2nd	6 17 22 34 36
2013-06-04	4	1st	17 25 28 34 40
2013-05-21	13	3rd	10 11 17 37 44
2013-04-05	22	3rd	4 9 17 22 23
2013-01-15	10	2nd	12 17 22 36 37
2012-12-07	3	2nd	4 17 33 42 45
2012-11-27	2	2nd	9 17 30 34 44
2012-11-20	3	2nd	3 17 26 28 33
2012-11-09	1	3rd	7 14 17 27 40
2012-11-06	5	2nd	9 17 18 37 41
2012-10-19	2	2nd	14 17 23 35 39
2012-10-12	10	3rd	5 10 17 35 41
2012-09-07	21	3rd	9 14 17 34 41
2012-06-26	1	2nd	2 17 22 39 44
2012-06-22	12	3rd	3 7 17 21 27
2012-05-11	3	3rd	6 7 17 20 23
2012-05-01	7	2nd	12 17 24 30 36
2012-04-03	11	4th	4 11 12 17 42
2012-02-24	15	1st	17 21 26 40 45
2012-01-03	2	4th	3 5 8 17 41
2011-12-27	30	3rd	10 12 17 24 26
2011-09-13	6	3rd	5 11 17 28 44
2011-08-23	30	2nd	4 17 20 22 31
2011-05-10	11	2nd	1 17 31 41 43
2011-03-29	6	3rd	3 15 17 24 38
2011-03-08	5	1st	17 21 31 34 41
2011-02-18	1	4th	2 7 12 17 31
2011-02-15	14	2nd	1 17 23 41 42
2010-12-28	3	5th	5 6 7 9 17
2010-12-17	6	4th	1 7 8 17 30
2010-11-26	2	2nd	12 17 22 25 34
2010-11-19	9	2nd	1 17 19 26 32
2010-10-19	2	3rd	9 11 17 35 38
2010-10-12	9	2nd	1 17 18 19 44
2010-09-10	2	2nd	1 17 19 33 38
2010-09-03	5	2nd	12 17 37 41 43
2010-08-17	26	2nd	11 17 30 35 45
2010-05-18	2	2nd	6 17 25 29 42
2010-05-11	2	3rd	4 14 17 42 44
2010-05-04	34	2nd	9 17 28 36 43
2010-01-01	7	1st	17 21 24 32 37
2009-12-04	8	1st	17 23 27 38 43
2009-11-06	3	2nd	10 17 23 31 42
2009-10-27	—	3rd	5 15 17 31 37