The blog filled with creative thoughts
<< Hard drive price history: price drop coming soon  |   BLOG  |   Do the Chicago Cubs deserve an All-Star? >>

What are the odds of finding a four-leaf clover?

A few years ago I was walking up the sidewalk to my parents' house, and there was one clover growing out of a sidewalk crack. That one clover just happened to be a four-leaf clover! Since then I always look at batches of four-leaf clovers trying to find one. I haven't found one since then.

George J. Kaminski single-handedly collected 72,927 four-leaf clovers from the fields within prison grounds in Pennsylvania, USA.

So finding one shouldn't be too hard, right? The odds are 10,000 to 1. Wow. 10,000 is such a hard number to understand. Here's some other odds that are around 10,000:

11,500 to 1: Odds of bowling a 300 game
11,500 to 1: Odds of winning an Academy Award
11,000 to 1: Odds of a person in the military winning the Medal of Honor
10,000 to 1: Odds of finding a four-leaf clover on first try
5,000 to 1: Odds of getting a hole in one
5,000 to 1: Chance that Earth will experience a catastrophic collision with an asteroid in the next 100 years


Posted by: spudart on Jul 06, 09 | 5:49 pm  |   [5550] Hits  |   permalink

leave a comment facebook comments below
leave a comment11 archived comments below


The full list of odds is available at:
http://www.funny2.com/odds.htm
But they don't sort the odds by number. Here's the list sorted by number:
182,138,880,000,000 to 1: Odds of a meteor landing on your house
500,000,000 to 1: Odds of being killed on a 5-mile bus trip
300,000,000 to 1: Chance of dying from a shark attack
100,000,000 to 1: Chance of dying from SARS in the United States
40,000,000 to 1: Chance of contracting the human version of mad cow disease
32,000,000 to 1: Chance of dying from a mountain lion attack in California
30,589,556 to 1: Chance of dying from ignition or melting of nightwear
20,000,000 to 1: Odds of getting canonized
20,000,000 to 1: Odds of becoming a saint
13,200,000 to 1: Odds of being an astronaut
13,000,000 to 1: Odds of winning the California lottery
10,000,000 to 1: Odds of becoming president
10,000,000 to 1: Chance of dying from parts falling off an airplane
5,005,564 to 1: Chance of dying from contact with hot tap water
4,235,477 to 1: Chance of dying from being bitten or struck by mammals (other than dogs or humans)
3,441,325 to 1: Chance of dying from legal execution
3,441,325 to 1: Chance of dying from contact with a venomous animal or plant
3,000,000 to 1: Odds of spotting a UFO today
3,000,000 to 1: Chance of dying from food poisoning
2,320,000 to 1: Odds of being killed by lightning
1,428,377 to 1: Chance of dying from overexertion, travel or privation
1,000,000 to 1: Chance of dying in a fireworks accident
700,000 to 1: Chance of dying from being bitten by a dog
685,000 to 1: Odds of drowning in a bathtub
662,000 to 1: Odds of winning an Olympic medal
650,000 to 1: Chance of dying in a terrorist attack while visiting a foreign country

Posted by: spudart on Jul 06, 09 | 5:58 pm


649,740 to 1: Odds of getting a royal flush in po-ker on first five cards dealt
576,000 to 1: Odds of being struck by lightning
370,035 to 1: Chance of dying from choking on food
354,319 to 1: Chance of dying in an airplane accident
225,107 to 1: Chance of dying from exposure to forces of nature (heat, cold, lightning, earthquake, flood)
107,787 to 1: Chance of dying in an explosion
88,000 to 1: Odds of dating a supermodel
81,524 to 1: Chance of dying from exposure to smoke, fire, and flames
79,065 to 1: Chance of dying from accidental drowning
60,000 to 1: Odds of striking it rich on Antiques Roadshow
22,000 to 1: Odds of becoming a pro athlete
20,666 to 1: Chance of dying from any kind of fall
20,000 to 1: Chance of dying in such a collision
19,556 to 1: Odds of injury from fireworks
18,585 to 1: Chance of dying from a car accident
18,000 to 1: Odds of being murdered
16,421 to 1: Chance of dying from an assault
15,000 to 1: Odds of an American speaking Cherokee
11,500 to 1: Odds of bowling a 300 game
11,500 to 1: Odds of winning an Academy Award
11,000 to 1: Odds of a person in the military winning the Medal of Honor
10,000 to 1: Odds of finding a four-leaf clover on first try
9,380 to 1: Chance of dying from intentional self-harm
7,000 to 1: Odds of being considered possessed by Satan
6,585 to 1: Odds of injury from shaving
5,000 to 1: Odds of getting a hole in one
5,000 to 1: Chance that Earth will experience a catastrophic collision with an asteroid in the next 100 years
4,464 to 1: Odds of injury from using a chain saw
3,623 to 1: Odds of injury from mowing the lawn
2,232 to 1: Odds of fatally slipping in bath or shower
1,820 to 1: Chance of dying from any kind of injury during the next year
563 to 1: Odds of catching a ball at a major league ballgame

Posted by: spudart on Jul 06, 09 | 5:59 pm


250 to 1: Odds of finding out your child is a genius
220 to 1: Odds of writing a New York Times best seller
215 to 1: Odds of dating a millionaire
200 to 1: Odds of having your identity stolen
175 to 1: Odds of being audited by the IRS
117 to 1: Odds of being on plane with a drunken pilot
90 to 1: Odds of being born a twin in North America
77 to 1: Odds of being killed sometime in the next year in any sort of transportation accident
69 to 1: Odds of being killed in any sort of non-transportation accident
26 to 1: Chance of getting colon / rectal cancer
25 to 1: Odds of getting hemorrhoids
20 to 1: Odds of being the victim of serious crime in your lifetime
10 to 1: Chance of getting the flu this year
9 to 1: Chance of getting breast cancer
9 to 1: Chance of beating pancreatic or liver cancer
7 to 1: Chance of getting arthritis
6 to 1: Chance of having a stroke
6 to 1: Chance of suffering from asthma or allergy diseases
6 to 1: Chance of getting prostate cancer
3 to 1: Odds that a person between the age of 18 and 29 does NOT read a newspaper regularly
3 to 1: Odds that an American adult does not want to live to age 120 under any circumstances
3 to 1: Odds that a celebrity marriage will last a lifetime
3 to 1: Chance of dying from heart disease
3 to 1: Chance of an American woman developing cancer in her lifetime
2 to 1: Odds of getting away with murder
2 to 1: Chance of American man developing cancer in his lifetime
1.3 to 1: Odds that a first marriage will survive without separation or divorce for 15 years

Posted by: spudart on Jul 06, 09 | 5:59 pm


I've only ever found 1 4-leaf clover when I was actively looking for one. I've never just stumbled upon one or spied one from above.

I like that I have a better chance of wining an Olympic medal than of drowning in the bathtub. I wonder if an Olympic swimmer has ever drowned in a bathtub

Posted by: Tom on Jul 07, 09 | 9:42 am


i have found abot 15 or 16 five leaf clovers and abought 200 or 300 four leaf clovers. I have a 6, and a 7 leaf i have allways been able to find them . maybe i need to play the lottery

Posted by: terry james on Mar 20, 10 | 12:36 pm


on april 3,2010 in my back i found three four leaf clover.all three were right next to each other.then about two hours later i found another by it self. then today i found one more.what are the odds to finding five in the same patch, pretty close to each other?

Posted by: thomas sonnier on Apr 05, 10 | 7:46 pm


My gradmother and i can find four leaf clovers by the handful with very little effort. we have a compition every year. who can find the first, biggest, and smallest. we both have many 5,6,7 and 8 leaf clovers as well. I have found as many as 30 in one patch at many different places. once you have found a couple they tend to pop up at you, making them easy to find. has for them being lucky im still not sure. although my family and I are working and healthy so thats luck enough.

Posted by: heather phaneuf on Apr 17, 10 | 12:04 pm


Heather, how long does it take you to find a four-leaf clover? Are you out there for an hour looking? I think most people, like me, will look for about 10 seconds. Maybe I need to give it a good solid hour.

Posted by: spudart on Apr 17, 10 | 12:48 pm


My sister so far has found 1,362 4 leaf clovers in our back yard since 2006. She has 12-Five leaf clovers 22-7 leaf clovers and 8-8 leaf clovers, a friend of mine has a 1-9 leaf clover in a frame that she found in maine.

Posted by: Jam3s on Jul 14, 10 | 6:58 pm


I thin it's always fun just looking for them, it's bonus sweetness when you actually find one.. It's like awesome....

Posted by: 4 leaf clover on Oct 20, 10 | 3:42 am


someone left a comment on this post with a super long name. I had to delete it, because it was wrecking the side column in my site design. Here's the comment:

=========
i have found over 800 four leaf clovers, and even 4 9-leaf clovers. What is the likelyhood of that? I dont know, and I'm in a statistics/calculus class.
=========


Posted by: spudart on May 11, 11 | 9:36 am


Welcome
Hi. I'm Matt Maldre. Every single weekday my blog on spudart.org has a new post with an original idea or discovery. Be sure to stop by daily to see what's happening.




for sale
Buy some art
Rock Bottom - print at deviantart.com
-->
mailing list
Get new spudart posts once a day:

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner


Subscription Center
Subscribe via RSS
Add to Google Reader
Add to My Yahoo
Add to My AOL
Add to My AOL
Add to My MSN
Add to My MSN
Subscribe in NewsGator Online
Add to NewsGator
Add to Bloglines
Add to Bloglines