4.20. A gambling book recommends the following "winning strategy" for the game of roulette: Bet \(1on red. If red appears (which has probability 1838), then take the \)1profit and quit. If red does not appear and you lose this bet (which has probability 2038of occurring), make additional $1bets on red on each of the next two spins of the roulette wheel and then quit. Let Xdenote your winnings when you quit.

(a) Find P{X>0}.

(b) Are you convinced that the strategy is indeed a "winning" strategy? Explain your answer!

(c) Find E[X].

Short Answer

Expert verified

(a) 0.5918

(b) No

(c) 0.108(Loss)

Step by step solution

01

Given information Part (a)  

If red appears (which has probability 1838), then take the $1profit and quit. If red does not appear and you lose this bet (which has probability 2038of occurring), make additional $1 bets on red on each of the next two spins of the roulette wheel and then quit.

02

Explanation Part (a)  

P(X>0)=P(X=1)

Win on first spin +(Loose on first spin)(win both the next two spins)

1838+20381838×1838=0.4737+0.1181

=0.5918

03

Given information Part (b)  

If red appears (which has probability1838), then take the $1profit and quit. If red does not appear and you lose this bet (which has probability 2038of occurring), make additional$1 bets on red on each of the next two spins of the roulette wheel and then quit.

04

Explanation Part (b)  

No, because one is betting on Red whose winning probability is:

1838<12

05

Given information Part (C)  

If red appears (which has probability 1838), then take the $1profit and quit. If red does not appear and you lose this bet (which has probability 2038of occurring), make additional $1 bets on red on each of the next two spins of the roulette wheel and then quit.

06

Explanation Part (c)  

X=1p=0.5918

X=-1(L,W,L)(L,L,W)

Where L: loose

W: win

P(X=-1)=( Loose on first spin )( loose exactly one in the next two spins )

=2038×1838×2038+2038×2038×1838

=2×2038×2038×1838

=0.2624

07

Calculation Part (c)  

X=-3(L,L,L)

P(X=-3)=( Loose on first spin )( Also loose both the next two spins )

=2038×2038×2038

=0.1458

08

Final answer Part (c)  

E(X)=(1×0.5918)+(-1×0.2624)+(-3×0.1458)

=-0.108

Unlock Step-by-Step Solutions & Ace Your Exams!

  • Full Textbook Solutions

    Get detailed explanations and key concepts

  • Unlimited Al creation

    Al flashcards, explanations, exams and more...

  • Ads-free access

    To over 500 millions flashcards

  • Money-back guarantee

    We refund you if you fail your exam.

Over 30 million students worldwide already upgrade their learning with Vaia!

One App. One Place for Learning.

All the tools & learning materials you need for study success - in one app.

Get started for free

Most popular questions from this chapter

A total of 2npeople, consisting of nmarried couples, are randomly divided into npairs. Arbitrarily number the women, and let Widenote the event that woman iis paired with her husband.

  1. FindP(Wi).
  2. For ij,find role="math" localid="1646662043709" PWiWj.
  3. When nis large, approximate the probability that no wife is paired with her husband.
  4. If each pairing must consist of a man and a woman, what does the problem reduce to?

The expected number of typographical errors on a page of a certain magazine is. 2.What are the probability that the next page you read contains (a) 0 and (b)2 or more typographical errors? Explain your reasoning!

The monthly worldwide average number of airplane crashes of commercial airlines is 3.5.What is the probability that there will be

(a) at least 2such accidents in the next month;

(b) at most1accidents in the next month?

Explain your reasoning!

One of the numbers 1through 10is randomly chosen. You are to try to guess the number chosen by asking questions with “yes-no” answers. Compute the expected number of questions you will need to ask in each of the following two cases:

(a) Your ith question is to be “Is it i?” i = 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10. (b) With each question, you try to eliminate one-half of the remaining numbers, as nearly as possible.

Suppose that a die is rolled twice. What are the possible values that the following random variables can take on:

(a) the maximum value to appear in the two rolls;

(b) the minimum value to appear in the two rolls;

(c) the sum of the two rolls;

(d) the value of the first roll minus the value of the second roll?

See all solutions

Recommended explanations on Math Textbooks

View all explanations

What do you think about this solution?

We value your feedback to improve our textbook solutions.

Study anywhere. Anytime. Across all devices.

Sign-up for free