A gambler began playing blackjack with $110 in chips. After exactly 12...
Given Information:
The gambler started with $110 in chips and ended with $320 in chips after 12 hands of blackjack. Each win earned $100 and each loss cost $10.
Objective:
To find the number of possible outcomes for the first 5 hands the gambler played.
Approach:
We can solve this problem using the concept of combinations. Since the gambler played 12 hands of blackjack, the number of wins and losses can vary. However, the total number of wins and losses must add up to 12.
Solution:
To determine the number of possible outcomes for the first 5 hands, we need to find the number of ways we can distribute the wins and losses among these 5 hands.
Let's consider the number of wins in the first 5 hands. It can range from 0 to 5, as the gambler can win any number of hands from 0 to 5. The remaining hands will be losses.
We can calculate the number of possible outcomes by finding the number of ways to choose the number of wins in the first 5 hands and then distributing the wins and losses among these hands.
Calculating the number of possible outcomes:- Number of wins in the first 5 hands: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
- Number of losses in the first 5 hands: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0
We can use the combination formula to calculate the number of ways to choose the wins:
Number of ways to choose 'r' wins out of 'n' hands = nCr = n! / (r! * (n-r)!)
For each possible number of wins in the first 5 hands, we can calculate the number of ways to distribute the wins and losses among these hands:
- For 0 wins in the first 5 hands, there is 1 way to distribute the losses (5 losses).
- For 1 win in the first 5 hands, there are 5 ways to distribute the win (choose the position of the win) and 1 way to distribute the losses (4 losses).
- For 2 wins in the first 5 hands, there are 10 ways to distribute the wins and 1 way to distribute the losses (3 losses).
- For 3 wins in the first 5 hands, there are 10 ways to distribute the wins and 1 way to distribute the losses (2 losses).
- For 4 wins in the first 5 hands, there are 5 ways to distribute the wins and 1 way to distribute the losses (1 loss).
- For 5 wins in the first 5 hands, there is 1 way to distribute the wins and 1 way to distribute the losses (0 losses).
Total number of possible outcomes:To calculate the total number of possible outcomes, we sum up the number of ways for each possible number of wins in the first 5 hands.
Total number of possible outcomes = 1 + 5 + 10 + 10 + 5 + 1 = 32
Therefore, there are 32 possible outcomes for the first 5 hands the gambler played.
Conclusion:The correct answer is option (d) 32