Pass the Pigs is a simple party game.
What are the odds of the various positions? I threw the pair of pigs a 442 times (2 x 221) on a clean, flat piece of granite at 68 deg F, and got the following results:
| Side (pink = no dot) = 35.2% (156) |
| Side (with black dot) = 29.1% (129) |
| Standing (Trotter) = 7.7% (34) |
| Back (razorback) = 24.6% (109) |
| Nose (snouter) = 2.2% (10) |
| Ear/nose (leaning jowler) = 0.6% (3) |
| Back/ear = 0.2% (1) |
The final position "Back/ear" is very rare, but can be thrown on my set. It is almost the back (razorback) position, but slightly tilted to the side (so the black dot is upwards a bit). It is not mentioned in the game rules, and on my pigs it has a probability of about 1/3%. Even site A below which had 1,688 throws did not mention this position. I can only get it with one of my two pigs: even using my fingers to position the pig. Apparently one of my pigs is a special pig that can achieve this mystical back-ear position. Like a super yoga master.
How do my results compare with other results posted on the internet?
| Me | Site A | Site B | Site C | |
| Side (no dot) | 35.2 | 36 | 34.1 | 34.1 |
| Side (dot) | 29.1 | 27 | 32.0 | 33.0 |
| Trotter | 7.7 | 7 | 9.2 | 8.7 |
| Razorback | 24.6 | 24 | 19.5 | 19.0 |
| Snouter | 2.2 | 2 | 3.5 | 3.5 |
| Leaning Jowler | 0.6 | 1 | 0.8 | 0.8 |
| Tail | 0.2 | -- | -- | -- |
Other pass-the-pig probability sites:
A) http://www.derepas.com/petco/
B) http://www.members.tripod.com/~passpigs/prob.html
C) http://turing.cs.gettysburg.edu/~tneller/nsf/pig/pig.pdf
Of the above sites, site (A) looks the most reliable, and it agrees well with my own measurements.