Let the record show that I CAN let Hick out of my sight, and frankly, I enjoy when it's not my day to watch him. The point is that I can't let Hick out of my sight in a CASINO!
Hick set out on his own Monday morning, for Casino Town, on an inventory-replenishing trip for his Storage Unit Store. He did not offer to take The Pony or me along with him. Of course I knew he would slip into the casino while he was there. And of course there was a controversy!
"I didn't have my player's card, because it's in the Acadia. So I went to the desk, and the old lady there gave me a new one. I went around playing several machines. Then I sat down at one that had a card laying on it. I guess somebody forgot it. So I left it there.
When I slid my card in, the panel said, 'Welcome, Cindy.' Huh. I figured the slot machine hadn't updated itself for my card yet. I looked at the card laying there, and the name on it was Cindy Smith. So I pulled my card out, and slid it in again. The slot still said, 'Welcome, Cindy.' I pulled my card out and looked at it.
MY CARD HAD MY NAME AS CINDY SMITH!
I'd been playing on it all that time. I went back to the desk, and showed the lady, and asked how come she gave me that card. She said she remembered making me a card, but that she had no idea how it came out with Cindy Smith on it!"
"She probably waited on Cindy Smith before you, and forgot to clear the screen, and hit PRINT or whatever they do to make a card. So it made one for who was on the screen."
"I don't know how she did it. She called over that younger gal, who I guess is her boss. She went through looking at my account, and said, 'Oh, I see you play in our slot tournament,' and I told her yes. She made me a new card with my name on it. But I told her, 'I've been playing for about an hour, and now I don't get credit for those points because I was using a card for Cindy Smith's account!' She put 200 points on my account for me. So that worked out okay."
"Somebody should have noticed that Cindy Smith was playing two different machines at once, in different parts of the casino! Security knows everything!"
"Yeah, unless Cindy Smith had already left the casino. But here's the thing... What are the odds that I would sit down at that machine that Cindy Smith had left her card on, and find out that my new card had her name on it? Those odds must be ASTRONOMICAL!"
"Well. I wouldn't say they were astronomical, heh, heh. It's a probability equation. I was never very good at probability. How many people were there?"
"Not many. It was a Monday morning. Maybe 50."
"So out of all the people there, if a card was left, there weren't a lot to choose from. You had a 1 in 50 chance to get Cindy Smith's card. But I don't think that's how to figure your odds. How many slots are there?"
"I don't know. But what are the odds that Cindy Smith would have picked the same machine I was on to leave her card?"
Okay. I think I have it figured out. I looked up that casino's slot machines, and supposedly they have 900. So Hick had a 1 in 900 chance of being on that slot machine. But Cindy Smith also had a 1 in 900 chance of being on that slot machine. I think you have to multiply their chances, to find the odds of them both choosing that specific slot machine.
1/900 x 1/900 = 1/810,000
So... the probability of Hick sitting down at the same machine where Cindy Smith left her card was 1 out of 810,000.
Don't get me started on the chance that Hick would have been mistakenly given a new player's card with Cindy Smith's name on it!
Maybe the odds of THAT happening WERE astronomical! In any case, I seem to remember only one possible reader with the mathematical background to prove me incorrect. So I'm going to pull a Hick, and tell you that of course my calculations are right!
At least Hick didn't "steal" Cindy Smith's points or money, like suspected during his other unfortunate casino events when not under my direct supervision!
PublHICK Enemy #1
The Ring Lady and the Beater
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Even as a VALEDICTORIAN, I had issues with calculating probability, and also slope. Then there's the whole geography debacle...
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Well did he win anything for himself or just points for Cindy?
ReplyDeleteYou sure Cindy isn't an accomplice?
He did not win anything. He was up to $92 on an 88 Fortunes slot, but played it back down to nothing. Cindy still got all his points for playing, but at least Hick got 200 points added to his player's account by the manager when they gave him the right card.
DeleteI hope Cindy never finds out about Hick's MEAT, or she might try to latch onto him. Free points AND bargain meat from the parking lot at Lowe's could be just the bait Hick needs to lure her in.
Somewhere, Cindy Smith is moaning about her lost card and money that could have been.
ReplyDeleteSometime, Cindy Smith will be celebrating because she has extra points on her player's card when she goes to the desk for a replacement.
DeleteProbability makes my eyes spin, then I haver to sit down. Now if you had a spelling problem I could probably help you out, or geography, maybe.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty good at spelling, when not making up my own words. But I ALWAYS need geography help!
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