People confuse risk with expectancy. If I put two bullets in a gun with a hundred chambers, would you play Russian roulette with me to make three percent? OK you want me to go first now?If there was a roulette wheel that has 100 numbers on it, and this includes the green 0 and 00.
The rules are simple, every day you get 1 spin:
1) If you land on 0 or 00, you lose your whole account. (2% chance)
2) If you land on the other 98 numbers besides 0 or 00, you make +3% of your account every spin. (98% chance)
So if you spin it 5 times, let's not take compounding into effect, you will make +15% overall.
Would you play this game? Why or why not? What would your long term strategy be, if any?
What odds would you be willing to play (if these odds are too risky for you)?
It's always interesting to see what everyone's risk tolerance is.
I like the positive expectancy of the game, but the positive expectancy relies on repeated trials....if u get hit by the 2% tail on the first roll...than what? In no circumstance would I ever risk 100% to make 3%. I'd need some sort of hedge to bring my risk down to 10-20% for me to want to play
The way I see it is
100 (total slots)- 2 (0 and 00)= 98/2 ( half are red, half black) = 49%
A 49% chance of winning is a loser eventually.
The 2+2 = 5 people will say I'm wrong but its just their take on it.
1) If you land on 0 or 00, you lose your whole account. (2% chance)
2) If you land on the other 98 numbers besides 0 or 00, you make +3% of your account every spin. (98% chance)
So if you spin it 5 times, let's not take compounding into effect, you will make +15% overall.
import java.util.Random;
public class Simulation {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Random rnd = new Random();
int spins = 5;
long trials = 1000000;
double averageGain = 0;
for (long trial = 1; trial <= trials; trial++) {
double gain = 0;
for (int spin = 1; spin <= spins; spin++) {
int outcome = rnd.nextInt(100) + 1; // random number between 1 and 100, inclusive
if (outcome <= 2) {
gain = -100; // got "0" or "00" slot
break;
} else {
gain += 3;
}
}
averageGain += gain;
}
averageGain /= trials;
System.out.println("Average gain or loss after " + spins + " spins : " + averageGain);
}
}