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Is there a house advantage in a "double-or-nothing" coin flip game?
  • Not quite the same, since in my scenario the player loses everything after a loss while in the St. Petersburg Paradox it seems they keep their winnings. But it does seem relevant in explaining that expected value isn't everything.

  • Is there a house advantage in a "double-or-nothing" coin flip game?
  • But the odds of the player managing to do so are proportionate. In theory, if 8 players each decide to go for three rounds, one of them will win, but the losings from the other 7 will pay for that player's winnings.

    You're right that the house is performing a Martingale strategy. That's a good insight. That may actually be the source of the house advantage. The scenario is ideal for a Martingale strategy to work.

  • Is there a house advantage in a "double-or-nothing" coin flip game?
  • You're saying that the player pays a dollar each time they decide to "double-or-nothing"? I was thinking they'd only be risking the dollar they bet to start the game.

    That change in the ruleset would definitely tilt the odds in the house's favor.

  • Is there a house advantage in a "double-or-nothing" coin flip game?
  • Right, and as the chain continues, the probability of the player maintaining their streak becomes infinitesimal. But the potential payout scales at the same rate.

    If the player goes for 3 rounds, they only have a 1/8 chance of winning... but they'll get 8 times their initial bet. So it's technically a fair game, right?

  • Is there a house advantage in a "double-or-nothing" coin flip game?

    The idea is that if the coin flip goes in the player's favor, they win double their bet. After winning, they can either collect their winnings, or risk them all on another coin flip to have a chance at doubling them. The initial bet is fixed at, let's say $1.

    Mathematically, this seems like a fair game. The expected value of each individual round is zero for both house and player.

    Intuitively, though, I can't shake the notion that the player will tend to keep flipping until they lose. In theory, it isn't the wrong decision to keep flipping since the expected value of the flip doesn't change, but it feels like it is.

    Any insight?

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    Everett takes a stand against age discrimination in housing (1907?)
  • I've seen other comics where Everett rejected the concept. One was when he told a woman he believed in it (in the sense of wanting it to happen) and threatened to kill children, and another when he told a man who brought it up that he was introducing him to race homicide. (I guess the term "genocide" hadn't entered the vocabulary.)

  • YouTube now vs then
  • Also videos that weren't intended for kids but superficially looked like they were got involuntarily flagged as such and had their comments removed.

    A separate site would have been a much better solution.

  • Community Movie Update: Yvette Nicole Brown Confirms She’s Returning as Shirley
  • Yeah, I can't speak to the behind-the-scenes drama, but I agree that Pierce was at his best in Season One, where he was a little bit grandiose and a little bit of a jerk but still had moments of wisdom and humanity. I always liked the talk he gave Jeff in the boating episode.

    Turning him into a total buffoon villain from season 2 onwards was a change for the worse.

  • Is it actually very common for people to have violent sadistic fantasies, possibly involving actual people in their lives?

    I just kind of wonder with how casually people express these thoughts. It's a little disturbing how normalized it is to entertain such notions, given how other types of fantasies are very stigmatized.

    Like when discussing char.ai, acting out sexual or romantic fantasies is something a lot of people do, but it's considered embarrassing. While people freely discuss violent roleplays without any shame.

    And then there's the cliche of fantasizing about killing one's boss or coworkers.

    Are these really common thoughts for mentally sound people to have?

    30
    Billionaires and the climate
  • Yeah. I mean I agree that focusing on change at the systemic level is more effective than changing individual habits, but what people don't realize is that the systemic change we need is the kind that will force those individual changes.

    Taxing or regulating the oil companies will help, but it will help by making energy more expensive so people are forced to make do with less.

  • On the train (August 10, 1921)
  • In addition to being in her personal space, he's also blocking her exit, which could make her feel trapped or threatened.

    It's good to discuss these things openly. I sympathize with people who don't intuitively understand them, as I'm one of them.

  • How am I supposed to decide who to vote for in local elections?

    I've never heard of these candidates, they have no party affiliation, and there's almost no information about them online that I can find.

    Are those positions just for people who work closely with those departments to vote on?

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    Why do people say that "return to office" is about raising commercial real estate prices?

    A lot of times, when people discuss the phenomenon of employers ending work-from-home and try to make their employees come back to the office, people say that the motivation is to raise real estate prices.

    I don't follow the logic at all. How would doing this benefit an employer in any way?

    111
    Small children are well known to be afraid of voids (closets, under the bed) in their sleeping area. Knowing this, why don't we design children's rooms to eliminate them?

    I'm not a parent, but going by pop culture, it seems like literally every child has the same fears.

    In pre-modern times, I imagine that they'd be sleeping in the same room as the parents, but if modern notions of privacy don't permit that, seems we could at least design an enclosed capsule or something.

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    Ask The World @lemm.ee HandwovenConsensus @lemm.ee
    How would you fill in the blanks for your country?
    www.smbc-comics.com Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Local

    Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Local

    Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Local
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    Ask The World @lemm.ee HandwovenConsensus @lemm.ee
    What is something your country doesn't get enough credit for?

    Reminder: Please specify the country you're answering for.

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    Ask The World @lemm.ee HandwovenConsensus @lemm.ee
    What could be considered the "traditional costume" of your country, and do people still wear it?

    Reminder: Please state what country you're answering for.

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    Ask The World @lemm.ee HandwovenConsensus @lemm.ee
    People whose original language isn't English, which dialect did you try to imitate while learning?
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    Ask The World @lemm.ee HandwovenConsensus @lemm.ee
    What was something you were surprised to learn is or isn't unique to your country?
    8
    Ask The World @lemm.ee HandwovenConsensus @lemm.ee
    What is a must-see movie from or about your country?
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    Ask The World @lemm.ee HandwovenConsensus @lemm.ee
    What food is considered a local specialty of where you live?
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    Ask The World @lemm.ee HandwovenConsensus @lemm.ee
    Meta- Community input requested on the rule to state which country you're answering for when you reply to a post

    I really don't want to be overly strict with the rules, especially while this sub is so small. But I think this is an important rule, and I'm considering being more strict about its enforcement.

    The reason I think it's important is that this is meant to be an educational community. In many cases, I assume people don't say where they're from because they assume it's obvious to people based on their answer. It may be, to people from the US or familiar with its zeitgeist. But this community isn't just for them. The last thing I want is for this community to suffer from US-defaultism.

    For that reason, I'm thinking that from here on, if I see an answer that doesn't state which country it's for, I'll give a reminder. After that, the poster will have 24 hours to edit it into their post, and it will be deleted if they have not done so.

    What do you think? Too strict? Not strict enough?

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    Ask The World @lemm.ee HandwovenConsensus @lemm.ee
    What confuses people the most when they visit your country for the first time?
    0
    Ask The World @lemm.ee HandwovenConsensus @lemm.ee
    How far back into your country's history could you go without needing a translator?

    I asked this before elsewhere, but I thought it led to some interesting answers.

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    What do you do to protect your car from the sun?

    I always try to find a shady parking space whenever I need to park for awhile. I have a steering wheel cover, which is a lifesaver. Sometimes I think about getting one of those boards you put on the windshield, or even a full reflective car cover, but I'm not sure if that would be worth it.

    I also tend to worry that parking in the sun is bad for my car battery (I have an EV.) Are there any grounds for that worry?

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    Ask The World - A non-regional community for asking questions about other countries and cultures

    Ask The World

    !asktheworld@lemm.ee

    Back on reddit, I really enjoyed participating in the various "Ask <country>" subs, so I'd like to get something similar started here. This community is going to be for general questions for anyone from any country, not directed as a specific country. Ask about culture, lifestyles, geography, whatever you want to know that might be different in a different place.

    I hope some of you will be interested. I'd really like to see Lemmy grow in general.

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    Ask The World @lemm.ee HandwovenConsensus @lemm.ee
    What would you change about your country's culture if you could?

    Please remember to say which country you're from. We don't have flairs here.

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    InitialsDiceBearhttps://github.com/dicebear/dicebearhttps://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/„Initials” (https://github.com/dicebear/dicebear) by „DiceBear”, licensed under „CC0 1.0” (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)HA
    HandwovenConsensus @lemm.ee
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