Re: combinations (applied to football games)


"Mensanator" <mensanator@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:4a3a17dc-317a-47bd-b843-5bdf69531fab@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Oct 14, 3:14 pm, magi...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Arturo Magidin) wrote:

Suppose we have TWO football games going on,
Dolphins vs Rams, and Bears vs Falcons. How many total
outcomes can result from these 2 games??? My guess
is THREE, is that correct??... i.e:

1) Dolphins win & Bears win
2) Rams win & Falcons win
3) Dolphins win & Falcons win

I think those are ALL the possibilities, right??

You mean, the rams and the falcons cannot both win?

Actually, he listed that case. He overlooked Rams & Bears
both winning. And technically, it's still possible for a
game to end in a tie.


Oooops, I forgot the possibility of the Rams & Bears winning....
Therefore, since there are 2 games going on, the answer
is 2*2 == 4 possible outcomes. (And since these are NFL
games, there are NO TIES...there is always a winner and a loser)


And finally, what if I have THREE games going on???
Dolphins vs Rams, Bears vs Falcons, and Lions vs Cardinals??
How many total outcomes would I have here??

Each game has two possible outcomes (three if you consider ties),
so it's 2*2*2 (3*3*3). And for your unasked question about 14 games
in a football pool, it's 2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2 but few people
would think every possibility is equally likely.

But wait a second.... if there are THREE games going on, then the
total possible outcomes are 2*2*2 which equals 8 possible outcomes.
Where did you get the number 14???

Thank you



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