On a standard Connect-$4$ board ($7$ columns & $6$ rows), if two players take turns making moves by selecting an available column uniformly at random, what is the probability the game will end in a draw (i.e. all $42$ spots are filled and neither player has $4$-in-a-row anywhere in the board)?
I believe the probability of a draw is highly unlikely ($<1$%). There are just too many places on the board for $4$-in-a-row to occur. I've simulated a few games and none have made it to a draw.
Here is my way of getting a rough estimate. There are $69$ locations on the board to get $4$-in-a-row (counting horizontal, vertical, and diagonal runs of 4 cells). For each, the probability of all $4$ the same color is $\frac{1}{8}$ since the first piece can be either color, and the remaining $3$ each have probability $\frac{1}{2}$ to match the first. Thus there is a $\frac{7}{8}$ probability the four pieces are not the same color.
For the whole board, the probability of a draw is found by $(\frac{7}{8})^{69}\approx0.01$%
I know this isn't the exact answer, because I didn't consider factors such as there need to be an equal amount of both colors, the players take turns, each cell is part of multiple runs of $4$-in-a-row, etc. But I expect my estimate is pretty good. My question is how to calculate the exact probability of a draw, and also the probabilities of player $1$ and player $2$ winning (I expect going first gives player $1$ an advantage over player $2$)?
I know the total number of Connect-$4$ games can be found on OEIS and elsewhere online, but it isn't clear how many of those $4.5$ trillion games end in a draw.
Here I have for you a simulation program that I worked on for this fascinating problem.
https://dotnetfiddle.net/5Ja1JS
All set up, you should be able to just click on RUN button to get output.
You can run various numbers of trials. If you have or obtain C#.net you can run for large iterations.