Data Science Bookcamp

Part 1. Case study 1: Finding the winning strategy in a card game

Problem statement

Would you like to win a bit of money? Let’s wager on a card game for minor stakes. In front of you is a shuffled deck of cards. All 52 cards lie face down. Half the cards are red, and half are black. I will proceed to flip over the cards one by one. If the last card I flip over is red, you’ll win a dollar. Otherwise, you’ll lose a dollar.

Here’s the twist: you can ask me to halt the game at any time. Once you say “Halt,” I will flip over the next card and end the game. That next card will serve as the final card. You will win a dollar if it’s red, as shown in figure CS1.1.

Figure CS1.1 The card-flipping game. We start with a shuffled deck. I repeatedly flip ...