Poker Math That Matters

24
outcomes for our roll. There is only one 5 on the die, so the top
number is a one. The probability of us rolling a 5 is 1
6 .
Now let’s see at how to express probability as a percentage. A
percentage is stating the same thing as a fraction. The key to
understanding what a percentage is all about is to understand the
origin and meaning of this word. English has this word from the
Latin phrase “per centum” which means “by the hundred”. So,
100 is the key. When we use a percentage, we’re talking about a
fraction where the bottom number is always 100. When you say
25%, it means 25 per 100, which is the fraction 25
. So, 50% is
100
the same as saying 50 out of 100.
Let’s look at how to convert a fraction to a percentage. We’ll
use the fraction 1
. The line between the two numbers represents
4
division. So, this is one divided by four. When we take a
calculator and do one divided by four, our calculator reads 0.25.
This is a decimal. In order to convert a decimal to a percentage,
we move the decimal point two numbers to the right. So, 0.25 is
25%. All these numbers represent the same thing.
1
4
= 0.25 = 25%
They all represent the same part of a whole.
Let’s do one more for good measure. This time let’s use the die
example again. The probability of rolling a five is 1
. Let’s
6
convert this to percentage.
1 / 6 = 0.166
We move the decimal point two places to the right and we have
16.6%.