Pierre, the First Mate, was sitting in the mess room of the Nautilus flipping cards from a Tarot deck. He would periodically stop and write some numbers in a small notebook near the cards.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you doing, First Mate?\u201d said Captain Nemo, who had stopped to look as he was walking by on his way to the bridge.<\/p>\n
\u201cSir, I am checking to see how many cards on the average I need to draw from a shuffled Tarot pack before I get an Ace,\u201d said Pierre with a bright smile as he drew The Hanged Man.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy don\u2019t you just calculate it? It\u2019s much faster,\u201d grinned Captain Nemo.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought about doing that, but there are so many combinations on how to get an Ace,\u201d moaned Pierre scratching his head as he pulled The Fool.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy don\u2019t you think about how not to get an Ace instead,\u201d suggested Captain Nemo, continuing on his way to the bridge.<\/p>\n
\u201cHmm, that\u2019s not a bad idea, Sir,\u201d the First Mate replied and started to write some symbols in his notebook.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n What do you figure is the average number of Tarot cards that need to be drawn from a well-shuffled Tarot pack before an Ace appears?<\/em><\/p>\nShare this:<\/h3>