Various Dice Odds Possibilities

Here are various ways to see what dice odds are like.

Say, we are about to shoot 3 dice pieces and we need a result of a 6. Some would probably opt for at least 3/6 odds of winning here, or about 50 percent. The reason probably would be that a die has a 1/6 odds of getting a 6 result. So with two dice we'd think that we'd get two times the odds, which would be 2/6. With 3 dice pieces its 3/6 or 50 percent.

If we believe the logic above, how about if we rolled 6 dice? Does that mean we get odds of 6/6? That would mean we'd get a 100 percent odds of a 6 each time we rolled 6 dice—even a hundred times. In real life, this would be hard to attain. Even if we rolled 100 dice, we won't be assured that each roll would always yield a 6. Probably a 6 would come out very frequently, but not always. When talking of a die, there are 6 various ways that it can end up after a roll. When we use 2 dice, the two pieces can end up 36 ways, not 12. Why 36?

Just multiply the ways a die can end up (6) with the ways another die piece can possible end up (6). So we have 36 ways. With a chart we would note how many times 6 appear: eleven. That's 11 in 36 throws making up 30.5 percent. Mathematically, we can see this by thinking the ways a die will not end up in a 6 after a roll, which is 5 times, then we multiply this with the ways another die will also not end up in a 6, which is also 5. So that's 25 times. Subtract 25 from 36--the total ways dice can end up—and the result is an 11.

If we use 3 dice and figure out how they would not end up in a 6, that's 5 in 6 throws. We multiply the result with the ways a die would not end up in a 6, and we have 5/6 X 5/6 = 25/36 times. For a third die we multiply 25/36 with 5/6 and we have 125/216 times. Then take 125 from 216, and that leaves us with 91 or 91/216 or 42.1 percent. That's short of the 50 percent earlier estimated.

Hence, dice odds often have results that are less visible to casual browsing. Odds need to be understood in depth.