If I put nine pieces of paper, with a digit from 1-9 written on each one, into a hat, and pull 3 out without replacement, what is the likelihood that I will select three numbers that result in a winning tic-tac-toe?

 1 | 2 | 3 
---+---+---
 4 | 5 | 6 
---+---+---
 7 | 8 | 9 

if there are 84 combinations of three-number sets from 9 numbers, and there are 8 combinations of numbers that result in a winning set,

then the likelihood is 8 in 84

or 2 in 21

is that correct?

Posted by rixar on 2004-07-30 18:25:16