CHANCE

, the Doctrine and Laws of, are the same as those of expectation, or probability, &c; which see. Chances, in play, consist of the number of ways by which events may happen. Thus, if a halfpenny, or other piece of money, be tossed up, there are two events, or chances, or sides that may turn up, namely one chance for turning up a head, and one for the contrary; that is, it is an equal chance to throw a head or not. And in throwing a common die, which has 6 faces, there are in all 6 chances, that is one chance for throwing an ace or any other single point, and 5 chances against it; or it is 5 to 1 that such assigned point does not come up.

Upon this subject, see De Moivre, Simpson, &c.