2. We play a game with a deck of 52 regular playing cards, of which 26 are red and 26 are black. They're randomly shuffled and placed face down on a table. You have the option of "taking" or "skipping" the top card. If you skip the top card, then that card is revealed and we continue playing with the remaining deck. If you take the top card, then the game ends; you win if the card you took was revealed to be black, and you lose if it was red. If we get to a point where there is only one card left in the deck, you must take it. Prove that you have no better strategy than to take the top card – which means your probability of winning is 1/2.

A First Course in Probability (10th Edition)
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ISBN:9780134753119
Author:Sheldon Ross
Publisher:Sheldon Ross
Chapter1: Combinatorial Analysis
Section: Chapter Questions
Problem 1.1P: a. How many different 7-place license plates are possible if the first 2 places are for letters and...
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2.
We play a game with a deck of 52 regular playing cards, of which 26 are red and 26
are black. They're randomly shuffled and placed face down on a table. You have the option
of "taking" or “skipping" the top card. If you skip the top card, then that card is revealed
and we continue playing with the remaining deck. If you take the top card, then the game
ends; you win if the card you took was revealed to be black, and you lose if it was red. If we
get to a point where there is only one card left in the deck, you must take it. Prove that you
have no better strategy than to take the top card – which means your probability of winning
is 1/2.
Hint: Prove by induction the more general claim that for a randomly shuffled deck of n cards
that are red or black - not necessarily with the same number of red cards and black cards -
there is no better strategy than taking the top card.
Transcribed Image Text:2. We play a game with a deck of 52 regular playing cards, of which 26 are red and 26 are black. They're randomly shuffled and placed face down on a table. You have the option of "taking" or “skipping" the top card. If you skip the top card, then that card is revealed and we continue playing with the remaining deck. If you take the top card, then the game ends; you win if the card you took was revealed to be black, and you lose if it was red. If we get to a point where there is only one card left in the deck, you must take it. Prove that you have no better strategy than to take the top card – which means your probability of winning is 1/2. Hint: Prove by induction the more general claim that for a randomly shuffled deck of n cards that are red or black - not necessarily with the same number of red cards and black cards - there is no better strategy than taking the top card.
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