Powerball statistics show how often each of the 69 main numbers and 26 Powerballs has been drawn, which are hot (drawn most often lately) and which are cold (drawn least often, or not for a while). They make following the game more interesting and choosing numbers more fun, but they can't tell you what will come up next: every draw starts from scratch. Here's how to read them, and where they can mislead you. For the latest figures, see Powerball statistics.
One draw for the UK and the US, one set of statistics
UK players don't have a draw of their own. The numbers you play are the ones drawn in the US, at the Florida Lottery's studio in Tallahassee, on behalf of the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL). So Powerball statistics aren't limited to the draws since the game came to the UK on 21 July 2026: every Powerball draw counts, whichever side of the Atlantic you play on.
What matters is the format. Powerball has used 5 numbers from 1 to 69 and a Powerball from 1 to 26 since October 2015, which gives more than 1,400 draws played under the same rules. Earlier draws belong to a different game: main numbers 60 to 69 didn't exist, and the Powerball went up to 35 or more. In all-time tables going back to 1992, numbers 60 to 69 look cold and Powerballs 27 to 35 appear even though they can no longer be drawn, for reasons that have nothing to do with luck. The full story is in Powerball changes over the years.
One more thing to check when you compare tables from different sites: in the UK a draw carries the date of the morning it takes place, Tuesday, Thursday or Sunday, while some sites list the same draw under the American date, Monday, Wednesday or Saturday. It's one draw, not two. More in Powerball draw time.
What our statistics show
On our statistics page you choose a period, from the last 15 days to the last year, and see how many times each main number and each Powerball has been drawn in it, how often that is as a share of the draws analysed, which numbers are hot and which are cold, and how the numbers drawn spread across ranges such as low and high. You'll also find the number of draws analysed, the biggest jackpot in the period and the odds for every prize tier.
Our number generator works from up to 200 recent draws. “Hot numbers” gives more weight to the numbers drawn most often, and even more to those from the last ten draws; “Cold numbers” goes for the ones that haven't come up for longest; “Lucky Dip” gives every number the same chance, just like the real draw. The Powerball is always picked at random. You can also balance odd and even and low and high numbers, lock a number you like or switch on “Avoid popular combinations”. Whichever you choose, the line has exactly the same chance as any other: it's a fun way to pick numbers, not a way to predict them.
What pure chance looks like
Five of the 69 main numbers are drawn each time, so any one of them has a 5 in 69 chance, about 7.2%, of coming up in a draw: on average once every 14 draws. The Powerball is one ball from 26, so each Powerball number has a 1 in 26 chance, about 3.8%: on average once every 26 draws.
Averages are only averages. With three draws a week there are about 156 a year. Over a year a main number “should” come up about 11 times, but anything from about 5 to 18 is perfectly normal chance variation; a Powerball number “should” come up 6 times, and anything from 1 to 11 is normal. That's why every table has numbers that look hot and others that look cold: it would be far stranger if they all came up the same number of times.
Short periods exaggerate it. In 15 days there are only six or seven draws, so a number that comes up three times looks red-hot while dozens of others haven't appeared at all. That's what chance looks like in a small sample, not a trend.
Hot numbers, cold numbers and gaps
A hot number is simply one that has been drawn more often than average in the period you're looking at. A cold number has been drawn less often, and its gap is the number of draws since it last appeared. Some players back hot numbers because they're “on a run”; others back cold ones because they're “due”. Neither has any mathematical basis: the balls don't know what happened last week, and every number has exactly the same chance in the next draw.
Long gaps are normal. At any moment, by chance alone, you'd expect three or four of the 69 main numbers to have gone 40 draws or more, over three months, without appearing, and one of the 26 Powerballs to have gone about six months without being drawn. Believing such a number must come up soon is known as the gambler's fallacy.
People sometimes quote the law of large numbers in support. What it actually says is that, over a very large number of draws, each number's share of appearances gets closer to the average. It doesn't say a number will catch up any time soon, and it doesn't make any single draw less random.
The Powerball's own statistics
The Powerball is drawn from a separate machine with its own 26 balls, so its statistics are separate from those of the main numbers. A Powerball 7 has nothing to do with a main number 7: in the American draw the main numbers are white balls and the Powerball is red.
That also means the same number can come up as a main number and as the Powerball in the same draw. It happens in about 7% of draws: in the draw of Thursday 29 October 2026, for example, 13 was both a main number and the Powerball.
With only 26 Powerballs, their figures settle down faster than those of the main numbers, but they still don't predict anything. And remember the format change: Powerballs 27 to 35 haven't been in play since October 2015, so in all-time tables they show huge gaps that mean nothing.
Patterns people look for
Some patterns come up again and again, but only because there are more combinations that produce them. Of the 11,238,513 ways to choose five main numbers from 69 (35 of them odd and 34 even), these are the shares for each split:
| Split of the 5 main numbers | Share of all combinations |
|---|---|
| 3 odd and 2 even | 32.7% |
| 2 odd and 3 even | 31.7% |
| 4 odd and 1 even | 15.8% |
| 1 odd and 4 even | 14.4% |
| All 5 odd | 2.9% |
| All 5 even | 2.5% |
Consecutive numbers are another example: about 26.5% of combinations include at least two numbers in a row, so roughly one draw in four has them. At the other extreme, only about 1.5% of combinations have all five main numbers between 1 and 31, the range birthdays come from.
Any particular pair of main numbers comes up together about once every 235 draws, a year and a half of Powerball, and any particular triplet about once every 5,240 draws, more than 30 years. That's why tables of “most common triplets” rest on counts of two or three.
None of this makes a particular line more likely. A mixed line such as 7, 19, 33, 48, 61 with Powerball 12 has exactly the same chance as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 with Powerball 6: 1 in 292,201,338. The odds of every prize are in Powerball odds.
How to use statistics sensibly
- Use them for fun, to choose numbers in a way you enjoy, not as a strategy to win.
- Check the period and the number of draws: small samples produce extreme-looking results.
- Compare like with like: only draws since October 2015 use today's 69 numbers and 26 Powerballs.
- Match the dates: a draw dated Tuesday in the UK is Monday night's draw in the US.
- Never spend more because a number is supposedly “due”.
- If you'd rather not share a prize, steer clear of popular patterns such as birthdays or runs of numbers. It won't change your odds, only how many people you might share with: the jackpot is split between every winning line in the UK and the US. Our tips explain more.
Frequently asked questions
What are hot and cold Powerball numbers?
Hot numbers are the ones drawn most often in a given period; cold numbers are the ones drawn least often or not for a while. They describe past draws, not future ones.
Are cold Powerball numbers due to come up?
No. Every draw is independent, so a number that hasn't come up for a long time has exactly the same chance as any other. Believing otherwise is known as the gambler's fallacy.
Do Powerball statistics in the UK include American draws?
Yes. UK and US players share the same draw, so every Powerball draw counts. For comparable figures, look at draws since October 2015, when the current format of 69 numbers and 26 Powerballs began.
Can the same number be a main number and the Powerball?
Yes. They come from separate machines, so it happens in about 7% of draws. In the draw of Thursday 29 October 2026, for example, 13 was both.
Which Powerball numbers come up most often?
It depends on the period you look at, and it changes after every draw. Our statistics page shows the current figures for periods from the last 15 days to the last year.
Can statistics improve my chances of winning Powerball?
No. Every combination has the same 1 in 292,201,338 chance of the jackpot, whatever has happened in previous draws.
Last reviewed: . Independent information: official results are published by the lottery that runs the game.