May the Odds be Ever in Your Favor

Odds are very similar to probability, but they are definitely 2 different animals!

Here is the equation for calculating odds:

Odds =    # of desirable outcomes  

             # of undesirable outcomes

Here is an example:

If I have a standard deck of cards and you randomly draw 1 card, what are the odds that the card is a jack, queen, or king?

First, keep in mind that a deck of cards consists of 52 cards. There are 4 coats in a deck of cards (diamonds, hearts, spades, clubs). This means that there are 4 jacks, 4 queens, and 4 kings in a standard deck.

Therefore, the number of desirable outcomes is 12 (4 + 4 + 4 = 12).

We must now determine the number of undesirable outcomes. If there are 52 cards in a deck and there are 12 desirable outcomes, logic tells us that there must be 40 undesirable outcomes (52 - 12 = 40).

So, the odds that the card is a jack, queen, or king are 12 : 40 -----> don't forget to SIMPLIFY! :)

12/4 = 3

40/4 = 10

Answer:  3 : 10

NOTE: You will often see odds records as a ratio rather than a fraction. While it would not have been incorrect to record my answer as 3/10, I prefer not to do this because I do not want my solution to be confused with probability.

I have searched tirelessly for videos or games that will help you to better understand odds. I discovered 2 things:

1) The odds of finding such things are clearly not very good.

2) Many of the sites I found were confusing odds and probability.

SOOOOOOO....

My next post is going to deal with the difference between odds and probability, how to convert probability to odds, and vice versa! Hold on to your seats!

Instead, I will leave you with this comic strip, which I found rather amusing:

So long for now!

~Tammy