What Are The Odds? (a different look at some statistics)

Whenever Web Watch visits Las Vegas, we like to watch people play the “carnival” games scattered across the casino.

You know the games – high visibility on the gaming floor, but not a lot of chance that the people playing will actually walk away a winner.  An example:  we once watched someone blow through about $1000 in 10 minutes playing Casino War.  Yes, the children’s card game WAR as played in a casino.  He didn’t stand a chance (he should have moved to craps or blackjack, where the odds were much more in his favor).

Knowing what the odds are in any scenario, whether it be a game of chance or a life-altering event, is important.

But odds need to be put into perspective.  One could tell you that you have a 1-in-6 chance of taking the unshaken beer out of the 6-pack carrier during a game of Russian Beer Roulette, or they could just bet whether you can roll a six on a die.  They’re the same odds, but sometimes you need these things pointed out to you.

So here’s a look at SOME OTHER ODDS, PUT INTO PERSPECTIVE, which should give you a better appreciation of how common (or rare) some items actually are:

• Odds of successfully climbing Mount Everest: 1 in 3
  Odds of getting divorced: 1 in 3
• Odds of dying from being bitten by a dog: 1 in 700,000
  Odds of having quadruplets: 1 in 700,000
• Odds that your child is a genius: 1 in 250
  Odds of writing a New York Times best seller: 1 in 220
• Odds of being the victim of serious crime in your lifetime: 1 in 20
  Odds of getting colon cancer: 1 in 20
• Odds of an amateur golfer getting a hole in one: 1 in 5,000
  Odds of dying from electrocution: 1 in 5,000
• Odds of guessing a four-digit lock combination on the first guess: 1 in 10,000
  Odds of finding a four-leaf clover on the first try: 1 in 10,000
• Odds of any given American being elected president: 1 in 10 million
  Odds of dying from parts falling off an airplane: 1 in 10 million