Flawed Author-Cardplayer Articles

[maurile]

[ QUOTE ]
Ciaffone wrote: "17-to-1 against" and "9-to-1 against"

These are odds. Not chances.

The correct answers are 16:1 (which means 16 to 1 against), and 7.5:1.

See the math in my Ciaffone's Error post.

[/ QUOTE ]
The correct answers are about 16.01-1 against and 7.77-1 against -- or about 1/17.01 and 1/8.77.

So 1/17 and 1/9 are decent approximations.

Writing 17-1 and 9-1 instead of 1/17 and 1/9 is more like a spelling mistake than a reasoning error, in my opinion. It's a sign of carelessness, not incomprehension.