if you roll 2 dice what are the odds of rolling a 7?

one out of six it's the best odds of any other number from 2-12 here's why..

Roll the first die, No matter what number comes up (1-6) you can roll the second die and always get a 7. You can't say that for any other number. If you roll a 5 on the first die, you cannot get a 12

See? Good luck

Digger is right. I'll show you another way to look at it.

There are exactly 36 outcomes with 2 six-sided dice:

1&1 = 2

1&2 = 3; 2&1 = 3

1&3 = 4; 2&2 = 4; 3&1 = 4

1&4 = 5; 2&3 = 5; 3&2 = 5; 4&1 = 5

1&5 = 6; 2&4 = 6; 3&3 = 6; 4&2 = 6; 5&1 = 6

1&6 = 7; 2&5 = 7; 3&4 = 7; 4&3 = 7; 5&2 = 7; 6&1 = 7

2&6 = 8; 3&5 = 8; 4&4 = 8; 5&3 = 8; 6&2 = 8

3&6 = 9; 4&5 = 9; 5&4 = 9; 6&3 = 9

4&6 = 10; 5&5 = 10; 6&4 = 10

5&6 = 11; 6&5 = 11

6&6 = 12

Look at that longest row. Those are the combinations that total "7". There are SIX combinations that make a total of "7". 6 out of a total of 36 combinations is mathematically the same as 1 out of 6.

On average, 1 out of 6 rolls of two six-sided dice will total "7".

***EDIT***

JackAce is right. Digger explained, and I explained in another way what the CHANCES were that you could roll a "7".

JackAce, on the other hand, actually answered the question. The ODDS are stated as 5 to 1 against you rolling a "7". (5 ways you will NOT roll a "7" to 1 way you CAN roll a "7".)

The odds are 5 to 1 against you rolling a 7.

There are 30 non-seven totals. There are 6 totals of seven.

30 : 6

or

5 : 1