Ace-Face

A betting strategy game

The Rules

  1. The suit of the cards does not matter. Cards are divided into the following categories:
    • Ace : only aces
    • Face : kings, queens, jacks
    • High : 10 through 7
    • Low : 6 through 2
  2. Player bets on one of the four categories listed above and draws a card from the shuffled deck.
  3. If the player bets on an Ace, and an Ace is drawn the player wins $30. If a Face is drawn, the player wins $10. If a High card is drawn, the player loses $5. If a Low card is drawn, the player loses $10.
  4. If the player bets on a Face, and an Ace is drawn the player loses $10. If a Face is drawn, the player wins $15. If a High card is drawn, the player wins $5. If a Low card is drawn, the player loses $5.
  5. If the player bets on a High card, and an Ace is drawn the player loses $10. If a Face is drawn, the player wins $5. If a High card is drawn, the player wins $10. If a Low card is drawn, the player wins $0.
  6. If the player bets on an Low card, and an Ace is drawn the player loses $5. If a Face is drawn, the player wins nothing. If a High card is drawn, the player wins nothing. If a Low card is drawn, the player wins $5.

The Game

  1. Construct a decision matrix for this game.
  2. Using the techniques described in Giere, identify the following strategies for playing this game:
    • The Gambler’s Strategy – (see Giere p 271)
    • The Play-It-Safe Strategy – (see Giere p 271)
    • The Expected Value Strategy – (see Giere p 273) You need to calculate the expected value for each option.
  3. Assign each of the strategies to a member of your group and then play. The fourth group member will be the dealer. Each player starts with $100 and must record how much they win or lose on each play.   For each play consists the dealer turns over a card and each player records his/her own result.
  4. At the end of the game, each player records the amount of money they have (or owe).