Number 20

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

104times drawn · chance expected 100 +0.47σ

1draws waiting · a wait this long: >99% for any number

8.7average wait between appearances · chance says 9.0

59longest completed wait · 11% chance of one at least that long

20 is drawn as often as chance explains

Drawn 104 times in 896 draws against 99.6 expected, +0.47σ. Each draw is independent: after 1 draws away it is exactly as likely tonight as a number drawn yesterday.

Number 20, draw by draw

Drawn 104 times in 896 draws · average wait 8.7 draws · longest completed wait 59 · waiting 1 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 small number the low positions more often. That is the shape of sorting, not of the machine.

1st smallest9 · chance 9.7
2nd smallest34 · chance 33.5
3rd smallest44 · chance 39.3
4th smallest14 · chance 18.6
5th smallest3 · chance 3.0

Every position’s lane →

The company it keeps

Seen most often with these — chance gives every partner about 9.5 shared draws, and the leaders are simply the ones that came out ahead this time.

11 31 38 13 15 22

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, 20 is picked about 1.28× as often as an indifferent choice — 13th 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
Round numbers (multiples of 10) ×1.05

The model and its sources → · What people believe about 20 →

Every draw it appeared in

Date	Wait	Position	The draw
2018-06-19	10	2nd	12 20 23 24 37
2018-05-15	5	3rd	5 10 20 27 40
2018-04-27	2	4th	2 8 12 20 43
2018-04-20	12	3rd	5 13

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

2016-12-20	11	4th	1 9 17 20 23
2016-11-11	6	3rd	1 3 20 35 36
2016-10-21	14	3rd	8 15 20 22 29
2016-09-02	18	1st	20 23 30 38 41
2016-07-01	5	2nd	17 20 22 27 41
2016-06-14	3	1st	20 24 40 44 45
2016-06-03	7	3rd	7 14 20 37 43
2016-05-10	7	2nd	5 20 26 27 33
2016-04-15	1	1st	20 29 33 37 38
2016-04-12	21	4th	2 16 18 20 24
2016-01-29	12	3rd	5 14 20 24 28
2015-12-15	23	4th	4 11 18 20 42
2015-09-25	8	2nd	14 20 21 26 32
2015-08-28	1	4th	10 16 18 20 31
2015-08-25	2	4th	2 11 19 20 31
2015-08-18	2	2nd	6 20 30 40 43
2015-08-11	10	3rd	11 14 20 24 44
2015-07-07	12	3rd	11 16 20 22 38
2015-05-26	7	3rd	12 13 20 31 36
2015-05-01	2	3rd	4 8 20 35 45
2015-04-24	3	3rd	4 13 20 31 38
2015-04-14	3	1st	20 22 23 29 33
2015-03-31	5	3rd	5 6 20 26 27
2015-03-13	8	3rd	18 19 20 22 43
2015-02-13	1	3rd	6 11 20 27 37
2015-02-10	10	2nd	10 20 27 31 33
2015-01-06	9	5th	2 9 14 18 20
2014-12-05	17	2nd	14 20 26 28 39
2014-10-07	1	3rd	6 11 20 36 45
2014-10-03	41	1st	20 34 38 42 43
2014-05-13	4	3rd	1 4 20 24 38
2014-04-29	22	2nd	12 20 31 40 44
2014-02-07	1	3rd	7 13 20 21 36
2014-02-04	1	2nd	4 20 21 29 40
2014-01-31	2	2nd	10 20 25 26 42
2014-01-24	7	3rd	10 15 20 33 38
2013-12-31	11	3rd	6 14 20 31 34
2013-11-22	1	4th	11 15 16 20 31
2013-11-19	3	3rd	13 19 20 24 26
2013-11-08	6	2nd	11 20 22 30 43
2013-10-18	2	4th	1 17 19 20 34
2013-10-11	21	3rd	16 18 20 29 36
2013-07-30	8	4th	3 4 5 20 44
2013-07-02	13	5th	7 12 13 18 20
2013-05-17	11	3rd	13 19 20 22 43
2013-04-09	15	3rd	8 9 20 38 39
2013-02-12	5	2nd	2 20 38 39 45
2013-01-25	4	3rd	7 15 20 23 25
2013-01-11	7	4th	1 4 14 20 33
2012-12-14	3	3rd	5 13 20 29 35
2012-12-04	10	3rd	5 11 20 34 45
2012-10-30	17	3rd	5 16 20 41 42
2012-08-31	7	4th	5 7 9 20 29
2012-08-07	5	2nd	13 20 21 26 44
2012-07-20	1	2nd	5 20 24 33 41
2012-07-17	17	3rd	1 4 20 23 34
2012-05-18	2	3rd	2 14 20 32 36
2012-05-11	1	4th	6 7 17 20 23
2012-05-08	5	5th	4 9 10 16 20
2012-04-20	18	2nd	13 20 24 25 29
2012-02-14	9	1st	20 30 31 32 44
2012-01-13	1	2nd	15 20 23 25 40
2012-01-10	3	2nd	18 20 24 26 40
2011-12-30	3	3rd	11 15 20 33 37
2011-12-20	16	1st	20 21 25 37 40
2011-10-25	3	3rd	11 12 20 35 38
2011-10-14	14	2nd	15 20 21 31 35
2011-08-26	1	3rd	10 18 20 36 39
2011-08-23	31	3rd	4 17 20 22 31
2011-05-06	6	3rd	4 9 20 38 45
2011-04-12	18	2nd	7 20 27 35 37
2011-02-08	59	2nd	14 20 22 34 35
2010-07-16	1	2nd	13 20 42 44 45
2010-07-13	1	4th	5 11 13 20 30
2010-07-09	10	4th	12 15 18 20 25
2010-06-04	13	3rd	1 16 20 27 33
2010-04-20	35	2nd	7 20 26 32 39
2009-12-11	9	2nd	10 20 22 23 35
2009-11-10	5	2nd	12 20 22 28 33
2009-10-23	—	3rd	12 15 20 36 38