For this discussion, select a game of chance, explain it briefly if it is likely to be unfamiliar to your classmates, then calculate probabilities of various outcomes like winning or losing in this game.

Roulette

Roulette is an extremely popular casino game. The roulette wheel has numbered slots on it and the ball. It is the goal of the game to guess which slot will be occupied by the ball after the roulette wheel has been spun. Slots on the wheel have numbers from 1 through 36. One half is colored red, and the other black. The American version of roulette has two extra green slots, numbered 00 and 0, in addition to the 36 numbers.

In order to play Roulette, the player must place his bets at the table. He will indicate the numbers or groups of numbers he wants to wager. Roulette offers many types of wagers, such as betting on one number, several numbers, or the color of a slot (red, black, or even). Payouts for different types of bets vary depending on their odds.

It is important to note that the probability of winning at roulette depends on what type of wager you make. The probability of winning in European Roulette (without the slot 00) is approximately 2.7% if the player wagers on just one single number. When a player wagers on either red or black the odds of winning are 18/37, or roughly 48.6%. It is 18/37 (approximately 48.6%) to win a bet based on an odd or even number.

The presence of the slot 00 in American roulette increases the edge of the house and decreases the odds of all bets winning. In American roulette, for example, the odds of winning on a single bet are 1/38 (or approximately 2.6%). A bet placed on black, red, or even/odd has a probability of 18/38 (approximately 47.4%).