Little Pig
The game of pig is an old game that I remember playing on rainy days of summer vacation (I did not
grow up in California). The game is played with a single die. Each player takes a turn by rolling the
die successively until the player either rolls a ‘1’ (in which case the player gets 0 points) or stops
rolling the die (in which case the player gets the same number of points as the sum of the numbers
rolled in that turn). The player may choose to stop rolling the die at any time during a turn.
I would like you to play an “easier” version of the game, called ‘Little Pig’. This game is similar to
playing ‘Pig’ with a three sided die - if such a dice existed.
‘Little Pig’ Same general rules as for ‘Pig’ except the point values are altered:
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•
•
Roll a 1 or a 2:
Roll a 3 or a 4:
Roll a 5 or a 6:
lose all the points in the current turn
1 point
4 points
Your goal is to get as high a point total as you can over a large fixed number of turns.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Play several turns with a partner. Note the different strategies that are possible.
Decide on a best strategy to follow for winning the game.
Challenge another pair of students to a 20-turn contest using your strategy.
Estimate the expected value for one turn based on your strategy.
Math 107 Z Introduction to Probability, Page 1