brumar_lv wrote:
Since I can't play VP here in Washington, sometimes I play Keno.
There was a tournament today with a $45 entry fee. $5 goes to the
casino, the rest into a pot paid back to players. There are five
prizes.
Today they ranged from $768 (1st) to $96 (5th). 48 people played so
the total prize money was $1920 (40 x 48). Ten games are played, and
whatever you win is payed at the normal pay schedule based on $1 per
game.
Is this a good deal? It seemed pretty good to me because you play
ten $1 games for $5, and have 5 chances in 48 of doubling or better
your entry fee. Am I missing something?
Had the prize structure been $192 to each of the first 10 places,
would that make it a better deal in offering a 10 in 48 chance?
"Good deal" is defined in what you value. If your idea of a good deal
is an overall expectation of coming out ahead (in terms of outcomes
weighted by probabilities), and only that, then the applicable measure
is EV.
Whether the EV here is "positive" depends on the expected return of
the keno game (assuming that you receive the play payout in addition
to the prize money). If the EV the ten games is at least $5 (50%+
game ER), then the proposition becomes positive. If it's sufficiently
positive to warrant the time invested, "good deal".
But, of course, in a situation like this, most would add a "fun"
factor into the equation.
- Harry