What Are the Odds?

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People often have a completely irrational understanding of what the odds are of an event happening to them. Typically, the worse the outcome, the greater the perceived probability of a horrible ending. In reality, the likelihood of dying in a plane crash is extraordinarily low yet. However, people board planes with sweaty palms fearing for their lives. The old codgers, nary a gambler among them, accurately assess the odds of winning the mega millions lottery—save your money since it’s one in 302 million odds. Led by Randy, the senior citizens of Camp Codger take some wild-ass guesses at the odds of getting struck by lightning, living to 100, and leaving a baseball stadium with a foul ball. Life is full of long shots as the old codgers discover.

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10 comments on “What Are the Odds?

  1. Marjorie says:

    What are the odds that I would enjoy another Camp Codger event? 100% đź‘Ź

    1. Gary Ebersole says:

      Thanks, Majorie! We have a long list of topics in the queue but we would love to hear your thoughts about what you might like to hear. Let us know!

  2. Catherine Rossi says:

    I liked hearing about the Colorado Codger Roger who is trying to protect the riparian rights of his fellow Colorada citizens. That story reminds me of hearing my grandmother Maude complaining to me about the rich people who were buying up the beaches where she lived in Long Island and that no one should own the beaches.

    1. Gary Ebersole says:

      Hi, Cathy. Maude was right! Beach and riparian access belongs to everybody. The rich can join the unwashed masses (you know, the rest of us…) on the public beaches and riparian areas.

  3. John Voorhees says:

    Great show, guys; yet I wish you had compared the odds of dying in a plane to that of driving a car. This old curmudgeon thinks autos are are the curse of our civilization.

    1. Gary Ebersole says:

      You are spot on, John. According to the link in the episode commentary (https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/planecrash/risky.html), you are 268 times more likely to die in a car accident than in a plane crash. Even riding a bike is much safer than driving.

  4. Judith Henry says:

    I really laughed when Randy said he had made that statistic up! And the 100% of people stuck together for a week in Hallmark movies! You are all delightful and I really enjoyed this one!

    1. Gary Ebersole says:

      Thanks, Judy. Another fun episode.

  5. jack turner says:

    good show!–I actually told someone buying a lottery ticket that they had a better chance of getting hit by a car on the way home than winning the lottery–I was confident because I’m a fast runner.
    How about people listening that have broken the odds and the stories they have?

    1. Gary Ebersole says:

      Great news that you can still run fast, Jack. How far did that lottery-ticket buyer chase you for insulting their irrational behavior of betting on the lottery?

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