# 20 random people including you. Person who asks for least gets it. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 9, 2014, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-random-people-including-you-person-who-asks-for-least-gets-it/697937 "2014-09-09T08:09:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-random-people-including-you-person-who-asks-for-least-gets-it/697937/41 "2014-09-10T05:47:47Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > $20,000,000 Same. For this reason: > [@Eureka](#): > > I’d rather dream about (and not get) a potentially life-changing amount, than get a trivial amount of money because I succeeded in asking for nothing. Nothing ventured nothing gained, but be reasonable and not absurdly greedy. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-random-people-including-you-person-who-asks-for-least-gets-it/697937/42 "2014-09-10T06:27:04Z")
You can’t base your strategy on what you want. In a game like this, you need to outthink the other players. The ideal bid isn’t a billion or fifty million or ninety-nine thousand. The ideal bid is one cent less than the second lowest bid. Your strategy should be trying to figure out what everyone else’s strategy is going to be. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-random-people-including-you-person-who-asks-for-least-gets-it/697937/43 "2014-09-10T06:35:32Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > Rule Clarification: > > No collaboration at all: The billionaire pulls you aside and tells you to give her a number; you don’t know if you’re the 1st or the 20th person she’s asked, or have any idea who the other 19 are. > > If exact lowest happerns, she’ll pay all tied people an equal share or give nothing depending on how she feels. She certainly won’t give everybody who tied the full amount. If the billionaire approaches me and I abstain from play, does that count as a zero bid (and wipe out the game)? Because it seems to me that the best strategy is not to play. There is little chance of winning big, and much chance of being hated by the other players. I don’t see that as a viable tradeoff. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-random-people-including-you-person-who-asks-for-least-gets-it/697937/44 "2014-09-10T10:09:13Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > If the billionaire approaches me and I abstain from play, does that count as a zero bid (and wipe out the game)? > > Because it seems to me that the best strategy is not to play. There is little chance of winning big, and much chance of being hated by the other players. I don’t see that as a viable tradeoff. Just bid the max- you won’t affect the other players, as either everyone else also bid that, in which case no payout, or at least one bid less, in which case lowest gets it. Eccentric billionaires are, well, eccentric, and it’d be best not to risk the game if you’re just trying to stay out of it. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-random-people-including-you-person-who-asks-for-least-gets-it/697937/45 "2014-09-10T12:25:14Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > Just bid the max- you won’t affect the other players, as either everyone else also bid that, in which case no payout, or at least one bid less, in which case lowest gets it. Yeah, I figured that just after posting… > [@](#): > > Eccentric billionaires are, well, eccentric, and it’d be best not to risk the game if you’re just trying to stay out of it. True - my preference would still be abstention, but not if I’ll destroy the game for others. (in all honesty, I would probably retreat from a person making this offer IRL, out of pure suspicion). ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-random-people-including-you-person-who-asks-for-least-gets-it/697937/46 "2014-09-10T14:39:59Z")
$49,000.00 My circumstances are such that this amount would make a huge difference for me at the moment. I’m betting that $50k is the lowest any of my coworkers would bid. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-random-people-including-you-person-who-asks-for-least-gets-it/697937/47 "2014-09-10T15:18:40Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > If the billionaire approaches me and I abstain from play, does that count as a zero bid (and wipe out the game)? > > Because it seems to me that the best strategy is not to play. There is little chance of winning big, \*\*and much chance of being hated by the other players. \*\*I don’t see that as a viable tradeoff. But someone’s bound to be that lucky/hated winner. If it weren’t you, it’d just be someone else. I think I’d take the hatred of the other players if the winning lowest sum were, say, $20,000 or higher. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-random-people-including-you-person-who-asks-for-least-gets-it/697937/48 "2014-09-10T15:43:21Z")
$19.99 Sorry- I just felt like saying it. . ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-random-people-including-you-person-who-asks-for-least-gets-it/697937/49 "2014-09-10T15:49:43Z")
Actually, the strategy is quite simple. Determine what minimum amount of money would make a truly significant positive impact on your life, and bid that amount. If you bid less, you are gaining relatively little, denying everyone else an opportunity, and letting the billionaire off the hook. For the median wage-earner in the USA, a lifetime earnings is in the neighborhood of $3-million. Increasing your lifetime earnings by 10% ($300K) is not going, in the long run, to have much effect on your lifestyle, so you have to go for more than that. Even a million is not enough to retire on, the earning power of an invested million is not enough to maintain the lifestyle you have already locked yourself into – it’s WalMart Greeter income… So you really want to get something actually worthwhile out of it, you have to for at least a million, and that’s borderline. And you’ll be underbid, by one of the 20 who has a more modest immediate need for funds. Either way, you cannot really ride this horse to any kind of genuine gain. So pick a number, shrug your shoulders, and get on with your failed and boring life. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-random-people-including-you-person-who-asks-for-least-gets-it/697937/50 "2014-09-10T16:00:32Z")
Since I’m the only person in my office, I’d ask for the full $10,000,000,000. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-random-people-including-you-person-who-asks-for-least-gets-it/697937/51 "2014-09-10T16:34:17Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > But someone’s bound to be that lucky/hated winner. If it weren’t you, it’d just be someone else. Yes, but if it’s me, it would be me. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-random-people-including-you-person-who-asks-for-least-gets-it/697937/52 "2014-09-10T18:31:21Z")
“$1, Bob/Drew!” ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-random-people-including-you-person-who-asks-for-least-gets-it/697937/53 "2014-09-10T18:56:05Z")
Sounds like an idea for a game show…and, in fact, it was, sort of; _How Much Is Enough_?, a short-lived GSN original. In the final round, two players competed for “up to” a specified amount of money (usually around $10,000); the amount started at zero and slowly increased until somebody buzzed in. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-random-people-including-you-person-who-asks-for-least-gets-it/697937/54 "2014-09-10T20:56:27Z")
You want to make it interesting? Whoever asks for the least gets the the highest requested amount. Whoever asks for the most, gets the lowest requested amount. (I ask for 1, you ask for 10, I get 10, you get 1) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-random-people-including-you-person-who-asks-for-least-gets-it/697937/55 "2014-09-11T12:34:59Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > Sounds like an idea for a game show…and, in fact, it was, sort of; _How Much Is Enough_?, a short-lived GSN original. In the final round, two players competed for “up to” a specified amount of money (usually around $10,000); the amount started at zero and slowly increased until somebody buzzed in. Golden Balls had something a little bit similar, except it was just a face-off between two players and they only had the choices ‘split’ or ‘steal’ (if both split, the prize is shared; if one steals, he gets the lot; if both steal, they get nothing) ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-random-people-including-you-person-who-asks-for-least-gets-it/697937/56 "2014-09-11T14:31:56Z")
> [@simster](#): > > You want to make it interesting? > > **Whoever asks for the least gets the the highest requested amount.** > > Whoever asks for the most, gets the lowest requested amount. > > (I ask for 1, you ask for 10, I get 10, you get 1) But then wouldn’t everyone just simply bid for $0.01? ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-random-people-including-you-person-who-asks-for-least-gets-it/697937/57 "2014-09-11T18:04:38Z")
Always assume that the guy making the offer has hired a shill to bid $1. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-random-people-including-you-person-who-asks-for-least-gets-it/697937/58 "2014-09-11T18:37:37Z")
> [@simster](#): > > You want to make it interesting? > > Whoever asks for the least gets the the highest requested amount. > > Whoever asks for the most, gets the lowest requested amount. > > (I ask for 1, you ask for 10, I get 10, you get 1) > [@Velocity](#): > > But then wouldn’t everyone just simply bid for $0.01? It would make more sense for everybody to ask for $500,000,000. That’s the ten billion dollar total, split twenty ways. It’s the maximum amount that can be won. And like the one cent bid, if everyone bids it, it’s both the highest and lowest requested amount by default. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-random-people-including-you-person-who-asks-for-least-gets-it/697937/59 "2014-09-11T18:57:44Z")
20 people? Some jackass is going to say “Fuck it-one penny”, so it doesn’t really matter what I bid. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-random-people-including-you-person-who-asks-for-least-gets-it/697937.md?page=2)