The Lotto number that's being drawn twice as much as it should

Lotto's exclusive club of the luckiest numbers of all-time has a new member. 

Ball number 22 has entered the top six, knocking 12 into seventh place. In fact, 22 has been drawn so often in the past year, it's now the third-most drawn ball in Lotto history, behind 1 and 7. 

According to data on the Lotto website, the six most-drawn numbers - in order - are 1, 7, 22, 19, 18 and 13. 

Ball 22 was last drawn on Wednesday night. It has appeared 12 times since the start of June out of 39 draws - twice as often as it should have purely by chance. In contrast, ball 12 was only drawn four times, two fewer than expected.

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Three of the top four Strike numbers are also in the top six overall - 19, 1 and 13 - with the eighth-placed ball 15 the fourth top Strike number. This isn't surprising, as in order to be a Strike winner, a ball also has to appear in the winning six of the main draw

The most frequently drawn Powerball number is 2, but more people have become multi-millionaires with ball 3, Lotto spokesperson Jessica Jordan told Newshub.

The least-frequently drawn numbers in the main draw are 6, 11, 4, 34, 28 and in last place, 28. The least-successful Powerball number is 10, being drawn fewer than half the number of times as 2 (72 to 159). 

Saturday night's Powerball prize is up to $32 million, the biggest prize in two years, after going nearly two months without a winner. Strike is up to $1 million, and "must be won", Lotto said.

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Jordan says players should get their tickets early to miss the last-minute queues.  

"We know that the last couple of hours before a draw are the busiest time for sales both in-store and online."

Each line on your ticket has a one-in-38,383,800 chance of hitting the Powerball jackpot. 

Top 10 Lotto winning numbers
 

1. 1 - 371 times
2. 7 - 360
3. 22 - 355
4. 19 - 354
5. 18 - 351
6. 13 - 351
7. 12 - 348
8. 15 - 347
9. 21 - 347
10. 37 - 343

Bottom 10 Lotto winning numbers
 

1. 17 - 323 times
2. 20 - 323
3. 33 - 322
4. 3 - 320
5. 6 - 320
6. 11 - 319
7. 4 - 317
8. 34 - 314
9. 29 - 313
10. 28 - 299

Newshub.