odds

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tweetybyrd

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Dec 21, 2009
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somebody please help me with this. Difference of opinion amongst the forces. lol
what are the odds? i get two chances at a flip of the coin, but only have to hit heads once what are the odds?
 
Break it down.

Tail followed by a head, probability is half of a half = a quarter.
Head first try, probability is a half.

Chance of getting a head on either of 2 tries is 3/4.

Alternatively....
How many possibilities are there in total for two throws....
tail tail
tail head
head tail
head head

three of the 4 have at least one head.

This assumes that the chance of getting a head equals the chance of getting a tail
and we can only get either head or tail
(no "coin on it's side", no "coin down the drain", no "coin flips into the air and never comes back"
or any oddball scenarios like that).
 
You might look at what the probability is of NOT being successful. The only way you cannot be successful is to get two tails. The sample space consists of four possibilities. Only one is tail-tail. Therefore, the chances of getting a head in two tosses is what's left, namely, 3 out of four.

By the way, there is a difference between "odds" and "probabilities" or "chances". It might pay you to look it up and know what the difference is. In your case the "chance" or "probability" of getting a head out of two tosses is 3/4. The "odds" are 3 to 1.
 
Ah yes! Loren, the odds...

wait,
if you want to place a bet, you will be given odds according to
"chance of failure" to "chance of success".

For example, odds of evens is 1:1
twice as likely to succeed is 1:2 or 1/2
one chance in 6 is 5:1 or 5/1

Therefore the "odds" in this case is 1:3 or 1/3 or 1 to 3.

These would be the odds a bookmaker would calculate, then he would reduce those odds
for business purposes to 1/4 or 1/5 etc.
 
As I learned it, the odds in being successful in getting a head is 3/1. The odds in failing to get a head is 1/3. Odds can either be stated in terms of success or in terms of failure. We need to know which one we are stating.
 
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