Need help on some statistics :)

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March 16th 2010, 02:41 PM
duffmess

Need help on some statistics :)

Okay our gonna have to bare with me here. My friends and i were having an argument about a gameshow in the uk called 'deal or no deal'. Basically there are 22 boxes:

10 are blue with money amounts of: 1p, 10p, 50p, £1, £5, £10, £50, £100, £250, £500, £750 (they are all blue)

and

£1000, £3000, £5000, £10,000, £15,00, £20,000, £35000, £50,000, £75,000, £100,000, £250,000 (they are red)

The game is called deal or no deal and it would be a great help if you already understand it lol. Basically all boxes are laid out at random and you have to select one to get rid of at a time. Every three a 'banker' will offer you a sum of money to stop playing. The aim of the game being to leave with as much money as possible.

What i said to my friends was that a bit of logical thinking could give you the edge. When it's your turn you select a box leaving 21 to choose from. The 5 biggest numbers are called the 'power 5' and are what the game is all about!!

What i suggested was that when you choose a box (from the 21) that if you get one of the 'power 5' that you should choose the boxes either side of it. Because statistically the chances of them being another of the 'power 5' would be less??? As basically it is a 5 in 16 chance??? If i'm wrong could someone please point out why because as far as i can see it makes sense! :S

Any insight would be greatly appreciated:)
March 16th 2010, 03:10 PM
Deadstar

Post the question here instead for detailed answer.

http://www.mathhelpforum.com/math-he...ty-statistics/

However I think the answer to your question is WHATEVER box you choose will have an equal chance of being/not being a power 5 so no your method would not work.
March 16th 2010, 09:10 PM
CaptainBlack

Quote:

Originally Posted by duffmess

Okay our gonna have to bare with me here. My friends and i were having an argument about a gameshow in the uk called 'deal or no deal'. Basically there are 22 boxes:

10 are blue with money amounts of: 1p, 10p, 50p, £1, £5, £10, £50, £100, £250, £500, £750 (they are all blue)

and

£1000, £3000, £5000, £10,000, £15,00, £20,000, £35000, £50,000, £75,000, £100,000, £250,000 (they are red)

The game is called deal or no deal and it would be a great help if you already understand it lol. Basically all boxes are laid out at random and you have to select one to get rid of at a time. Every three a 'banker' will offer you a sum of money to stop playing. The aim of the game being to leave with as much money as possible.

What i said to my friends was that a bit of logical thinking could give you the edge. When it's your turn you select a box leaving 21 to choose from. The 5 biggest numbers are called the 'power 5' and are what the game is all about!!

What i suggested was that when you choose a box (from the 21) that if you get one of the 'power 5' that you should choose the boxes either side of it. Because statistically the chances of them being another of the 'power 5' would be less??? As basically it is a 5 in 16 chance??? If i'm wrong could someone please point out why because as far as i can see it makes sense! :S

Any insight would be greatly appreciated:)

Try explaining what sort of sense this makes to you.

CB