We use cookies to ensure you have the best browsing experience on our website. Please read our cookie policy for more information about how we use cookies.
I wanted to ask how people are handling player two's decision as to how many coins to toss when n > 1.
It seems that regardless of how many coins are used, the expected value of the result is the same since the points gained doubles with each additional coin and the probability of success is halved.
T | Probability | Score | E.V.
1 | 1/2 | 1 | 1/2
2 | 1/4 | 2 | 1/2
3 | 1/8 | 4 | 1/2
4 | 1/16 | 8 | 1/2
Should Player 2 use as many coins as possible to reach n in less turns or should P2 use 1 coin each time to maximize the chance of scoring any points? Or is the decision inconsequential as all decisions result in the same E.V?
Cookie support is required to access HackerRank
Seems like cookies are disabled on this browser, please enable them to open this website
Project Euler #232: The Race
You are viewing a single comment's thread. Return to all comments →
I wanted to ask how people are handling player two's decision as to how many coins to toss when n > 1. It seems that regardless of how many coins are used, the expected value of the result is the same since the points gained doubles with each additional coin and the probability of success is halved.
T | Probability | Score | E.V.
1 | 1/2 | 1 | 1/2
2 | 1/4 | 2 | 1/2
3 | 1/8 | 4 | 1/2
4 | 1/16 | 8 | 1/2
Should Player 2 use as many coins as possible to reach n in less turns or should P2 use 1 coin each time to maximize the chance of scoring any points? Or is the decision inconsequential as all decisions result in the same E.V?