PDA

View Full Version : Gambling and faith, a simplistic hypothetical


Saddlepoint
10-04-2005, 08:59 PM
Someone offers you 1.1:1 on a coin flip, a gamble which you are permitted to take an infinite number of times. On each coin flip, you are permitted no less and no more than 1 dollar (Let's say that after a you win x number of flips, you can begin to risk more. I'm throwing this in so that nobody can say it's not worth your time to play). Super-important note: For the purposes of this hypothetical, you somehow know with 100% certainty that the coin and the bookie are both completely honest and unbiased. Would you stop playing if you lose the first 10 times you tried? The first 100? The first 1000?

With honest self-assessment, if you somehow knew that the arrangement was completely honest and random, would you be capable of continuing to play until you could no longer afford to lose?

10-04-2005, 09:01 PM
My legs dont work

JihadOnTheRiver
10-04-2005, 09:01 PM
wrong forum

imported_CaseClosed326
10-04-2005, 09:03 PM
I would play it all day and all night.

offTopic
10-04-2005, 09:07 PM
I would play until such time as I could buy myself a moderatorship and move this thread to the Psych forum.

Claunchy
10-04-2005, 09:12 PM
This belongs in the Trainwreck.

Of course I would, as would most people who post in a forum devoted to professional gambling. You might get some more interesting (and probably laughably stupid) responses in a different forum.

captZEEbo1
10-04-2005, 09:52 PM
well, assuming I can just have this run in the background while I 8-table (for instance, a computer program that generates those odds and automatically does everything for me...a la, I (1.1) am the casino and (1) the guy flipping the coin, then I'll play this nonstop forever. If I actually have to watch it the whole time, then no ...unless I can bet bigger.

I don't really understand the premise of this question though?

If I KNEW for 100% (somehow) that it was completely fair, I would never stop, until I lost my whole bankroll. HOWEVER, In reality, since I can't be 100% sure, I'd stop after losing 10 in a row (or sooner actually), thinking there's obviously some trick. (losing 10 in a row is 0.098%, or in other words, very rare).

nubs
10-04-2005, 10:00 PM
A little OT but i catually got to do something like this. I was hanging out with my friends and kind of bored so we started doing lame prop bets. Well one of my friends recently had a birthday and his relatives from Ireland sent him some Euros. Well i suggest that he bets his euros against my dollars 1:1 since they are basically play money anyway /images/graemlins/wink.gif. He surprisingly agrees and i bet $50 to his 50 Euro on a game of high card. He draws first and its a Jack. At this point i think im a retard for taking this bet but i proceed to pull a Queen. Yeah I rule.

Saddlepoint
10-04-2005, 10:05 PM
I haven't read any of the responses yet, I just got back and realized I posted this in OOT. I thought I was in SMP, my bad.

I'll post pictures of chicks as penance.

EliteNinja
10-04-2005, 10:08 PM
I'd play this game as long as I humanly could. Then when I die, I would get a robot to play for me. Then when the robot dies, a new robot will take his place. Ad infinitum.