Annoying E-Mail Brain Teaser

Help!

I’m sure that some Doper (if not alla y’all) has seen this thing. What is up with this?

THE MISSING DOLLAR

THREE MEN GO INTO A MOTEL. THE MAN BEHIND THE DESK SAID THE ROOM IS $30.00.

EACH MAN PAID $10.00 AND WENT TO THE ROOM.

A WHILE LATER THE MAN BEHIND THE DESK REALIZED THE ROOM WAS ONLY $25.00. HE SENT THE BELLBOY TO THE THREE GUYS’ ROOM WITH $5.00. ON THE WAY THE BELLBOY COULDN’T FIGURE OUT HOW TO SPLIT $5.00 EVENLY BETWEEN THE THREE MEN, SO HE GAVE EACH MAN $1.00 AND KEPT THE OTHER $2.00 FOR HIMSELF.

THIS MEANT THAT THE 3 MEN EACH PAID $9 FOR THE ROOM, WHICH IS A TOTAL OF $27.00. ADD THE $2.00 THAT THE BELLBOY KEPT $29.00.

WHERE IS THE OTHER DOLLAR?

watch that division … it will get you everytime.

Canthearya, do a search of the message board using the word “bellboy” and you’ll find a few threads on this already. I’d do it for you, but I’m felling pretty damn lazy this morning.

Don’t say I never gave ya’ anything!
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=13188

thanks for the link.
The trick seems to be that the bellboy charged the men $27 and stole $2 from the register (since $25 went to the register).

Phobos - close. The math is right, but the characterization is wrong. The room was only $25 dollars. The register got $25. The men each paid $9, for a total of $27. The problem comes in adding the $2 to the $27 and getting $29, and wondering what happened to the “extra $1”, when in fact you should subtract the $2 from the $27.

Each person paid about 66 cents in tip.

Each man paid $8.33 for the room. That’s 25 dollars. Then the bellboy gives them each a dollar back, so that’s 28 dollars total, and the bellboy’s 2-dollar tip brings us to 30 dollars.

What you never lost a buck in the dryer?