It is also certain on
an average of hands, that nothing can be more superstitious and
absurd than the prevailing notions about luck or ill-luck. Four
persons, constantly playing at Whist during a long voyage, were
frequently winners and losers to a large amount, but as
frequently at 'quits;' and at the end of the voyage, after the
last game, one of them was minus only one franc!
The chance of having a particular card out of 13 is 13/52, or 1
to 4, and the chance of holding any two cards is 1/4 of 1/4 or
1/16. The chances of a game are generally inversely as the
number got by each, or as the number to be got to complete each
game.
The chances against holding seven trumps are 160 to 1; against
six, it is 26 to 1; against five, 6 to 1; and against four nearly
2 to 1. It is 8 to 1 against holding any two particular cards.
Similar calculations have been made respecting the probabilities
with dice. There are 36 chances upon two dice.
It is an even chance that you throw 8. It is 35 to 1 against
throwing any particular doublets, and 6 to 1 against any doublets
at all. It is 17 to 1 against throwing any two desired numbers.
It is 4 to 9 against throwing a single number with either of the
dice, so as to hit a blot and enter.
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