Game of pure chance with restricted boundary

DOI10.1016/J.DAM.2020.02.016zbMATH Open1443.91083arXiv2001.05108OpenAlexW3008804360MaRDI QIDQ2192115FDOQ2192115

Thotsaporn Thanatipanonda, Ho-Hon Leung

Publication date: 29 June 2020

Published in: Discrete Applied Mathematics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: We consider various probabilistic games with piles for one player or two players. In each round of the game, a player randomly chooses to add $a$ or $b$ chips to his pile under the condition that $a$ and $b$ are not necessarily positive. If a player has a negative number of chips after making his play, then the number of chips he collects will stay at $0$ and the game will continue. All the games we considered satisfy these rules. The game ends when one collects $n$ chips for the first time. Each player is allowed to start with $s$ chips where $sgeq0$. We consider various cases of $(a,b)$ including the pairs $(1,-1)$ and $(2,-1)$ in particular. We investigate the probability generating functions of the number of turns required to end the games. We derive interesting recurrence relations for the sequences of such functions in $n$ and write these generating functions as rational functions. As an application, we derive other statistics for the games which include the average number of turns required to end the game and other higher moments.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/2001.05108

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zbMATH Keywords

probability generating functionsymbolic computationcombinatorial probabilityprobabilistic game

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Combinatorial probability (60C05) Probabilistic games; gambling (91A60)

Cites Work

• A symbolic finite-state approach for automated proving of theorems in combinatorial game theory
• A Probabilistic Two-Pile Game
• The \(C\)-finite ansatz
• The concrete tetrahedron. Symbolic sums, recurrence equations, generating functions, asymptotic estimates
• Title not available (Why is that?)

Cited In (3)

• A random stacking process
• Title not available (Why is that?)
• Probabilistic chip-collecting games with modulo winning conditions

Uses Software

• Cfinite
• Piles

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