# Annoying E-Mail Brain Teaser **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 29, 2000, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-e-mail-brain-teaser/31173 "2000-08-29T13:28:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gazelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Gazelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazelle)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2000, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-e-mail-brain-teaser/31173/1 "2000-08-29T13:28:05Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Lazarus7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/67e7ee/32.png) [@Lazarus7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lazarus7)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2000, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-e-mail-brain-teaser/31173/2 "2000-08-29T13:28:55Z")
watch that division … it will get you everytime. ---
**Author:** ![Gazoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ce73a5/32.png) [@Gazoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazoo)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2000, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-e-mail-brain-teaser/31173/3 "2000-08-29T13:42:53Z")
**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. ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2000, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-e-mail-brain-teaser/31173/4 "2000-08-29T13:59:41Z")
Don’t say I never gave ya’ anything! [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=13188](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=13188) ---
**Author:** ![Phobos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Phobos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phobos)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2000, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-e-mail-brain-teaser/31173/5 "2000-08-29T14:34:10Z")
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). ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-e-mail-brain-teaser/31173/6 "2000-08-30T03:37:42Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-e-mail-brain-teaser/31173/7 "2000-08-30T03:52:47Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-e-mail-brain-teaser/31173/8 "2000-08-30T07:43:50Z")
> [@](#): > > WHERE IS THE OTHER DOLLAR? What you never lost a buck in the dryer?