Oh, everyone is stylish! I can almost hear the theme music for that first panel… and Lovelace suggesting getting dressed up to become a high roller only to immediately short-circuit things with the most efficient option cracked me the heck up. 😀
I KNOW YESTERDAY I SAID I WANTED THEM TO KEEP THE UNICORN ONESIES
I WAS WRONG ABOUT WHAT I WANTED!!
These outfits are STYLIN!! I am GAY for both Aimee and Lovelace!! Omg they look SO GOOD <3 you draw a good suit! (Nick looks handsome AF but I’m gay for women. He is still ROCKING IT and has been for the last many strips)
It’s right up there with cutting past the montage and having the characters discuss how cool the action we never got to see was as a classic subversion of expectations.
…hang on… probability analysis might let you win more than you lose and make a net profit, but it’s not going to let you win literally every single bet! Did Lovelace just hack the server to credit her account, and is fibbing to conceal that or something?
Oh, I’m mostly just joking around about the nature of probability.
Even if you can know for certain that something is 99% probable to happen, if you bet on it happening 10,000 times, on average you’ll still lose 100 bets, and the odds of not losing even a single bet are so astronomically small as to be insane.
Of course, the probability of winning is NEVER as high as 99%, whether playing poker or betting on horses. Racing in particular would be a weird place to try to rely on statistical analysis, because that’s already what they do to determine the betting odds – the more likely a horse is to win, the less payout you get for betting on it, carefully calculated to ensure that the house still comes out ahead.
For example, in a 12 horse race, the favorite horse to win usually has around 27% chance of winning a race, and the odds the track gives to betters tend to be around 2:1 – meaning that if you bet $1 and win, you get your 1$ back plus another $2 on top, but if you lose, you simply lose your $1.
It balances out because 1) not everyone bets on the favorite, since some people bet on less likely winners who give bigger payouts (betting on the horse with 9:1 odds means you get $10 back for every $1 you bet if you win, rather than only $3); and because 2) even if everyone bets on the favorite horse, they still only win about 27% of the time, meaning the track comes out ahead.
If it’s a 6 horse race instead, the favorite horse has a higher 40% chance of winning, but the payoiuts are worse, being usually just barely over even money – for each dollar you bet, you might only get back $1.07 if you win, for example.
Anywho, the point is that no matter how perfect your ability to predict the probability of a horse winning is, you’re still going to lose SOME percentage of bets, simply because the probability is less than 100% (and is in fact almost certainly below 50% in even the best gambling circumstances – that’s how the house always wins in the long run, after all.)
Also a fair point – Lovelace isn’t exactly the most mentally well adjusted (virtual) person, perhaps she has strayed into the field of Mad Science by this point…
There’s so much to love here, but I particularly like that Aimee uses the correct singular “die”, which is something I exclusively associate with tabletop roleplayers.
~Clearly~ the proper singular form is “douse”, as in mice / mouse!
In all seriousness, though… isn’t “die” the historical form, stretching back centuries, and using “dice” as both plural and singular is only a modern growing trend?
This reminds me of when some kids from my alma mater figured out how to place bets on horse races after the races had finished. They got caught because they made too much money on a high-profile race. But I’ve never been so proud of my school.
As a kid, I was so thrilled when the local toy-store gave me a $5 Thorny Buck bill. When I got home I read the exchange rate… One Buck was worth half a cent! I doubt they ever saw an actual Thorny Buck purchase…
I love this……
I love this! Never have Nick and Aimee looked more like siblings!
And Lovelace is giving off a very Audrey Hepburn vibe…
I doubt even Tip could offer an improvements to the Style being exhibited here.
Oh, everyone is stylish! I can almost hear the theme music for that first panel… and Lovelace suggesting getting dressed up to become a high roller only to immediately short-circuit things with the most efficient option cracked me the heck up. 😀
I KNOW YESTERDAY I SAID I WANTED THEM TO KEEP THE UNICORN ONESIES
I WAS WRONG ABOUT WHAT I WANTED!!
These outfits are STYLIN!! I am GAY for both Aimee and Lovelace!! Omg they look SO GOOD <3 you draw a good suit! (Nick looks handsome AF but I’m gay for women. He is still ROCKING IT and has been for the last many strips)
Ah, short cutting the montage, clever.
It’s right up there with cutting past the montage and having the characters discuss how cool the action we never got to see was as a classic subversion of expectations.
Ha! I love that Lovelace is so confident and assured. It’s still technically Aimee’s server and she’s still one step ahead.
…hang on… probability analysis might let you win more than you lose and make a net profit, but it’s not going to let you win literally every single bet! Did Lovelace just hack the server to credit her account, and is fibbing to conceal that or something?
I assumed “off-track” referred to racing. Am I missing something here? I don’t spend a lot of time at casinos.
Oh, I’m mostly just joking around about the nature of probability.
Even if you can know for certain that something is 99% probable to happen, if you bet on it happening 10,000 times, on average you’ll still lose 100 bets, and the odds of not losing even a single bet are so astronomically small as to be insane.
Of course, the probability of winning is NEVER as high as 99%, whether playing poker or betting on horses. Racing in particular would be a weird place to try to rely on statistical analysis, because that’s already what they do to determine the betting odds – the more likely a horse is to win, the less payout you get for betting on it, carefully calculated to ensure that the house still comes out ahead.
For example, in a 12 horse race, the favorite horse to win usually has around 27% chance of winning a race, and the odds the track gives to betters tend to be around 2:1 – meaning that if you bet $1 and win, you get your 1$ back plus another $2 on top, but if you lose, you simply lose your $1.
It balances out because 1) not everyone bets on the favorite, since some people bet on less likely winners who give bigger payouts (betting on the horse with 9:1 odds means you get $10 back for every $1 you bet if you win, rather than only $3); and because 2) even if everyone bets on the favorite horse, they still only win about 27% of the time, meaning the track comes out ahead.
If it’s a 6 horse race instead, the favorite horse has a higher 40% chance of winning, but the payoiuts are worse, being usually just barely over even money – for each dollar you bet, you might only get back $1.07 if you win, for example.
Anywho, the point is that no matter how perfect your ability to predict the probability of a horse winning is, you’re still going to lose SOME percentage of bets, simply because the probability is less than 100% (and is in fact almost certainly below 50% in even the best gambling circumstances – that’s how the house always wins in the long run, after all.)
You’re assuming they’re real horses, when it was probably a race between more Baron clones
“Probability analysis” is a great code phrase for “I checked what the RNG was going to output”
You’re quite right! It’s even technically accurate in describing what it refers to!
…I’m now having flashbacks to a particularly traumatising Doctor Who episode. (The one about being simulated by zombie monks.)
Real probability analysis, yes. MAD probability analysis, conducted through SCIENCE, it’s just code for ‘I can see the future’
Also a fair point – Lovelace isn’t exactly the most mentally well adjusted (virtual) person, perhaps she has strayed into the field of Mad Science by this point…
Since the only currency exchangeable with Baronbucks is Dogecoin, conversion is a little tricky.
There’s so much to love here, but I particularly like that Aimee uses the correct singular “die”, which is something I exclusively associate with tabletop roleplayers.
…wait, did I just call a non-standard usage “correct”? Bad linguistic descriptivist!
Ah, well. Alea iacta est.
~Clearly~ the proper singular form is “douse”, as in mice / mouse!
In all seriousness, though… isn’t “die” the historical form, stretching back centuries, and using “dice” as both plural and singular is only a modern growing trend?
I missed you and I’m glad you’re back. Thank you for this comic!
+1
Daaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmnnnnnnnnnnn I take back my comment from yesterday about how they need to stay in the onesies, the kids look niiiiiiice!
Ooh stylish. Welcome back.
Wait a minute, where did Lovelace get the seed money for all those bets from?
On credit, I’d guess.
I’m confident Lovelace could leverage free drink tickets into a stake if she needed to. 😉
I love the matching suits, and remembering how those two characters developed. Also Lovelace is giving me very very strong Sophie-from-Leverage vibes.
Dang, Nick and Aimee are looking *sharp*.
(Also, are the spots on their faces meant to be freckles, or pimples? I’ve wondered about this for ages.)
I’m getting very strong Integra Wingates Hellsing vibes from Aimee’s pose in the first panel.
Yeah
All we need now is for Schrodinger to provide target practice.
This reminds me of when some kids from my alma mater figured out how to place bets on horse races after the races had finished. They got caught because they made too much money on a high-profile race. But I’ve never been so proud of my school.
If they’d watched The Sting they’d know the way to get away with that is to fake your own death.
Aimee just casually holding Lovelace’s arm. My heart.
Worth the wait. <3
Fantasy Island, eat your heart out.
“Smiles, everyone, smiles!”
I was so relieved in season 4 to learn Mr. Roarke was not Mephistopheles (“The Devil and Mandy Breem”).
To paraphrase Zaphod, ten out of ten for style and efficiency, but minus several million for lack of cool points.
The inhabitants must already have trouble telling Nick and Aimee apart. Aimee could’a at least worn a *blue* tie…
Or purple, like the crown.
Or hair that reaches down to their eye-level? It’s visible in the first panel.
Agreed. Their sartorial splendor is enhanced by the twin reinforcement. And the red ties compliment the trim on Lovelace’s dress.
Tip would approve.
I can see four differences between them, but I’m better acquainted with them than Baron’s goons. (Height, hair, yarmulke, tailored jackets.)
Woohoo, Skin Horse is back!
Lovelace, c’mon, let them have their fun.
Alright! That’s “super stylish” and “rich” sorted … I wonder how they’ll tackle “famous”, next!
I meant to say “super swanky” (not just “stylish”)
They don’t make Vegas Montages like they used to!
Yay! You’re back!
As a kid, I was so thrilled when the local toy-store gave me a $5 Thorny Buck bill. When I got home I read the exchange rate… One Buck was worth half a cent! I doubt they ever saw an actual Thorny Buck purchase…
I assume Baron Bucks exchange as well…
That’s still better than Glotnys! 😉
On the plus side, at least she gets to look awesome in a white suit and dark glasses.