A location game on a triangle
A father bequeaths a triangular piece of land to his children, Alice and Bob. The father was known to be quirky, and in his will, he specified a rather unusual way for the land to be divided. On a map of the land, Bob is to mark a location of his choosing. ...

Video: splitting the bill
Excedrin has a funny commercial about the annoyances that come with splitting the bill. This poor diner is with a group of friends who ordered the same thing, and yet use every excuse in the book to avoid paying their fair share. How many have you experienced? See the video after the ...

Game theory of dividing a pizza
Figuring out how to divide a regular pizza is easy. A standard pizza is usually cut into equally-sized slices, so two people can just eat the same number of slices. But what happens when you cut the pizza in odd ways, like the following division? Let's play a game to test your ...

How to divide up chores fairly using game theory
This post is based on the following email I got from Cheryl: Hi Presh~ Could you write a blog post on game theory tips for fairly dividing household chores/tasks (for roommates, partners, and perhaps coworkers)? Bonus points for providing easy division methods that people will actually use. In any case, keep up the ...

How to split a cab fare fairly using game theory
I came across a fantastic game theory article that appeared in the Wall Street Journal Number's Guy blog all the way back in 2005. The article is about three friends who agree to share a cab, and the possible ways they can split the costs. I highly recommend you read the article. The ...

A fair division storytale
While I was browsing random videos on Youtube, I came across an amusing story about fair division told by some Indian school children. The video is about five minutes long and I found it enjoyable. And if the accents are throwing you off, you can read my transcription of the video ...

Negotiating with the mob – Game theory in the Dark Knight part 2
In my original post about Game theory in The Dark Knight, I discussed the opening bank robbery scene and compared it to the pirate game. I mentioned the film was full of strategic thought and a great way to illustrate game theory concepts. In light of recent Batman news, like Facebook ...

How do you split coupons when paying a restaurant bill?
It's Friday night and you're out to dinner with your friends. You are ready to split the bill, and you offer up a coupon to save money. How should the coupon affect how much you pay? Should the coupon reduce the entire group bill, or should the coupon reduce only how ...

A dilemma in dividing up chocolates
The day after Valentine's Day, a father ran into a math dilemma. He had bought a heart-shaped box of chocolates on clearance to be divided amongst his three daughters. The issue came when he tried to divide the chocolates. The box contained 17 pieces of chocolates. He had promised 1/2 of ...

Fair division and game theory in a Jif Peanut Butter commercial
I was recently pointed to a Jif Peanut Butter commercial that touches on game theory. It deals with a mom trying to resolve a dispute between her two kids and the last slice of bread. Here is the commercial on Youtube (my transcription of it follows): Link to Youtube video Jake: Mom it's ...

Using mechanism design to improve your finances…it’s as easy as splitting a Coke
I have to thank my fifth grade math teacher for unintentionally introducing me to game theory. The game theory is hidden in the following extra-credit problem that he asked us: My mother would often give a can of Coke to me and my two brothers and tell us to split it. ...