⇥ Gambling the bill

My friend Peter was in town yesterday, so we made it a night out, as we do whenever we’re in the same place at the same time. An evening with Peter is always interesting, and last night was no exception—not the least because we got to introduce Arbi to a nice little game.

The game works like this: one of the people at the table gets the bill. Since we don’t exactly eat out at Mickey D’s, after the initial moment of desperation, the recipient of the bill then proceeds to propose that he and the other diners play a little game to decide who the lucky payer of the bill will be.

The game is simple, and extremely diabolic at the same time. One person—let’s call him or her the host—chooses a number between 1 and 1,000. The number is written down on the bill (so that the host can’t cheat his or her way out of “winning” the game), but in such a way that the others can’t see it.

At this point, all the people at the table take a turn, in rotation, trying not to guess the number. Each person chooses a number between the highest and lowest closest numbers until someone, the “lucky” winner, guesses the number the host chose, and has to pay up. When it’s the host’s turn, he or she must add one to the current low number, or subtract one from the current high number, instead of guessing a number (since the host knows the “winning” number). The host can do either, but once he picks one action (either add one to the low, or subtract one from the high) he must do the same thing every time.

For example, suppose the host picks 455, and there are three people at the table. The game could go like this:

• Player 1 chooses 233, which is low. The game’s numbers are now:
  
  233
  x
  1,000
  
  
• Player 2 chooses 768, which is high. The game’s numbers become:
  
  233
  x
  768
  
  
• The host must either add one to the lowest, or subtract one from the highest. She chooses 234:
  
  234
  x
  768
  
  
• Player 1 now chooses 451, which is low again:
  
  451
  x
  768
  
  
• Player 2 chooses 499, which is high again:
  
  451
  x
  499
  
  
• The host chooses 452:
  
  452
  x
  499
  
  
• Player 1 chooses 459:
  
  451
  x
  459
  
  
• Player 2 chooses, 456:
  
  451
  x
  456
  
  
• The host chooses 452:
  
  452
  x
  458
  
  
• Here, the game starts getting interesting, because the two players have an opportunity to bottle the host into “winning”—while at the same time having a 1:5 chance of losing themselves. Player 1 chooses 454, getting dangerously close to winning:
  
  453
  x
  458
  
  
• Player 2 chooses 455, “winning” the game and saving the host from paying the bill.

This is a silly little game, but it has a few powerful characteristics that make it an excellent business tool.

First of all, it’s played for money—and all players must be merciless. There’s nothing like the possibility of getting stuck with a $200 bill to make an otherwise dull night exciting—it’s not Montecarlo, but it will be memorable for all people involved. Second, the loser won’t easily forget how he or she lost the money (as a side note, if you play this game long enough, whoever takes your expense refunds is likely to start asking questions about why they’re full of numbers… so be prepared to offer a creative answer), and will want to exact revenge; similarly, the winners will think they got a great deal out of it, and will want to play again—making for a great excuse to schedule a meal with you in the future. Heck, for once you may manage to stick it to a client all the while making him happy for footing the bill!