statistics project

Project 4 – Chapter 4 Summer 2019

Horse Races

To simulate the races we are going to represent each horse with colored spaces on a wheel. Some horses are faster than others. To represent this, the “faster” horses will have more spaces on the wheel (thus improving their probability of winning). The race will be conducted by spinning the wheel and the color it lands on will be the “winner”. Complete Parts 1 & 2 before you conduct the races.

Part 1 – Computing Odds

Kentucky Derby – 4 horse race

This race will consist of 4 horses – Red, White, Blue & Yellow. The number of spaces on the wheel of each color will be as follows:

Red – 8 White – 4 Blue – 3 Yellow – 1

Find the probability of each horse winning as a fraction, decimal and percent:

Red horse – 8/16 = .5 or 50%

White horse –

Blue horse –

Yellow horse –

Compute the odds against for each horse, show your work and be sure to reduce the fraction:

Odds against red horse =

Odds against white horse =

Odds against blue horse =

Odds against yellow horse =

Preakness – 8 horse race

This race will consist of 8 horses – Red, White, Blue, Yellow, Green, Pink, Purple & Black. The number of spaces on the wheel of each color will be as follows:

Red – 16 White – 12 Blue – 10 Yellow – 9 Pink – 8 Green – 5 Purple – 3 Black - 1

Find the probability of each horse winning as a fraction, decimal and percent:

Red horse =

White horse =

Blue horse =

Yellow horse =

Pink horse =

Green horse =

Purple horse =

Black horse =

Compute the odds against for each horse, show your work and be sure to reduce the fraction:

Odds against red horse =

Odds against white horse =

Odds against blue horse =

Odds against yellow horse =

Odds against pink horse =

Odds against green horse =

Odds against purple horse =

Odds against black horse =

Part 2 – Place Your Bets

You are going to bet $100 on each race ($1000 total). You place the same bet each time the Kentucky Derby and Preakness are run. You are going to try to select the “winning” horse in each race. You will get to bet on more than one horse per race to help your odds. The actual odds against that you computed in Part 1 are going to be used as your payoff odds. Your goal is to try to make as much money as possible keeping to the following rules:

1. You must bet on at least 2 horses in the Kentucky Derby and 4 horses in the Preakness.

2. If you choose to bet on a horse, you must bet a minimum of $5 per horse.

3. You must bet all of your $100 on each race.

Complete the table below except for Part 3.

Part 3 – Conduct the Races

You are now going to conduct the races by spinning the wheel 5 times for each race. After each spin, put the race winner in the Part 3 (yellow) part of the table, then identify the amount of money (if any) won. After you have completed the 5 spins for each race, total your winnings and complete the table.

Kentucky Derby Wheel: