- #1
iDimension
- 108
- 4
Imagine there is an empty pot with a max capacity of £1000. You are given £500 to bet with.
Option one is to bet the full £500 giving you a 50% stake in the pot. Other people make up the other £500. You have a 50% chance to win £500, simple enough.
The second option is to spread your bets, and instead you decide to make fifty £10 bets giving you a 1% chance to win, but you get fifty tries.
I favour the second option, despite the fact that when your £500 is gone, you would have had a 50% chance to win with both amounts but the 1% bets give you many chances to win. You may well win on your first bet, or several times for that matter.
With the 1% bets the absolute minimum you can win is £500.
With the 50% bet the absolute maximum you can win is £500.
So is it always better to bet smaller than larger where possible in a game like this? Of course I am not encouraging gambling, but this is just a thought experiment for a game I play.
Psychologically a lot of my friends prefer the 50% bet. Why?
Option one is to bet the full £500 giving you a 50% stake in the pot. Other people make up the other £500. You have a 50% chance to win £500, simple enough.
The second option is to spread your bets, and instead you decide to make fifty £10 bets giving you a 1% chance to win, but you get fifty tries.
I favour the second option, despite the fact that when your £500 is gone, you would have had a 50% chance to win with both amounts but the 1% bets give you many chances to win. You may well win on your first bet, or several times for that matter.
With the 1% bets the absolute minimum you can win is £500.
With the 50% bet the absolute maximum you can win is £500.
So is it always better to bet smaller than larger where possible in a game like this? Of course I am not encouraging gambling, but this is just a thought experiment for a game I play.
Psychologically a lot of my friends prefer the 50% bet. Why?