Beginners Query - Simple counter problem

[Ian Clark]

Carsten Haese wrote:
> On Thu, 2007-09-06 at 11:24 -0700, Ian Clark wrote:
>> Carsten Haese wrote: 
>>> def d6(count):
>>>     return sum(random.randint(1, 6) for die in range(count))
>>>
>> My stab at it:
>>
>>      >>> def roll(times=1, sides=6):
>>      ...     return random.randint(times, times*sides)
> 
> That produces an entirely different probability distribution if times>1.
> Consider times=2, sides=6. Your example will produce every number
> between 2 and 12 uniformly with the same probability, 1 in 11. When
> rolling two six-sided dice, the results are not evenly distributed. E.g.
> the probability of getting a 2 is only 1 in 36, but the probability of
> getting a 7 is 1 in 6.
> 

Doh. I stand corrected. Probability was never a fun subject for me. :)

Ian