Fooled by Chance

Abstract

In the play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern by Tom Stoppard, a streak of 76 consecutive heads occur in a coin tossing game. The loser remarks that “A weaker man might be moved to re-examine his faith, if in nothing else than in the laws of probability”. And, later, “the equanimity of your average tosser of coins depends on a tendency which ensures he will not upset himself by losing too much nor upset his opponent by winning too often.”