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| Question 315170:  Consider a state lottery that has a weekly television show.  On this show, a contestant receives the opportunity to win $1 million.  The contestant picks from four hidden windows.  Behind each is one of the following: $150,000, $200,000, $1 million, or a "stopper".  Before beginning, the contestant is offered $100,000 to stop.  Mathematically speaking, should the contestant take the $100,000?
 Answer by stanbon(75887)
      (Show Source): 
You can put this solution on YOUR website! Consider a state lottery that has a weekly television show. On this show, a contestant receives the opportunity to win $1 million.
 The contestant picks from four hidden windows.
 Behind each is one of the following: $150,000, $200,000, $1 million, or a "stopper".
 Before beginning, the contestant is offered $100,000 to stop.
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 Let random variable X be the players gain over 100,000 if he plays.
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 X Values: 50,000, 100,000, 900,000, 0
 Probs:::: 1/4, 1/4, 1/4, 1/4
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 E(x) = (1/4)(50,000+ 100,000+ 900,000+ 0) = 262,500
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 Mathematically speaking, should the contestant take the $100,000?
 Absolutely Not.
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 Cheers,
 Stan H.
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