The World Serious Problem.

I Find Karma (adam@cs.caltech.edu)
Sat, 22 Feb 97 22:16:55 PST

Here's a fun problem for you. Suppose you want to place a bet for the
world series that if your team wins the series you get $1000 but if your
team loses the series you lose $1000. However, the bookie will only
take bets for individual games (you can place these bets any time up to
the start of the respective game). When you place a bet on a game, and
the team you bet on wins the game, you get paid the amount of that bet;
otherwise, you owe the amount of that bet.

The question is, what bet can you place on Game 1 of the series so that
no matter what the eventual outcome of the series (4-0, 4-1, 4-2, 4-3,
3-4, 2-4, 1-4, 0-4), you will win exactly $1000 if your team wins the
series, and you will lose exactly $1000 if your team loses the series.
Your answer should be either in the form of an amount, a range of
amounts, or the statement that there is no way to do it.

----
adam@cs.caltech.edu

Darn! I had declared today a no-netscape-no-usenet-day. I'm only five
minutes in the office and I just have to check this out... What a guy
won't do for a tiny pixellated scan of an out-of-focus photograph of a
babe.
-- Robert Harley