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Chapter 5 Probability: Heads or Tails

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"We'll each start with a coin and 24 counters," said Josef to Sunita. "You place your coin either heads up or tails up on the table and cover it with your hand so that I can’t see it. I’ll do the same. Then, we’ll both uncover our coins. If you have heads and I have tails, or vice-versa, I’ll give you two counters. If there are two heads, you give me one counter. If there are two tails, you give me three counters." Sunita thought about the probabilities of each outcome and decided that the game was fair. However, after playing for half an hour, she had lost all of her coins. Was the game fair? Explain.



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