Originally posted on 02/13/2018:

Quote Originally Posted by Optional View Post
Has anyone provided an explanation to how flipping 45 coins at once makes any difference to flipping them one after the other?

Can't see the answer for the swinging dick contest that has taken over the thread.
My educated guess:

Obviously if you flipped one fair coin 45 times, each flip is 50/50 irregardless of previous results.

In the other example though of flipping 45 coins at once, the flipping has already happened and the results are being revealed afterwards, no longer making it a future event. Thus, just like the Monte Hall paradox from the 21 clip, revealing that the first 44 coins were heads serves as the changing variable. So...what was more likely to happen before the simultaneous flipping, 44 heads or 45 heads? Obviously the odds on both were minuscule but the 45-0 sweep was the most minuscule, so the tails would be favored for the 45th reveal.