# Where's the dollar? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 6, 2002, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-the-dollar/131109 "2002-10-06T22:32:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2002, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-the-dollar/131109/1 "2002-10-06T22:32:58Z")
Three guys walk into a hotel. The rate for 3 people is $30. They each pay $10 and head up to their room. Then the desk clerk realizes he made a mistake, and the special rate was $25 for 3 people. He gives $5 to the bellhop and tells him to return it to the three guys. On his way, the bellhop figures rather than splitting $5 three ways, it would be better to give each guy a dollar and pocket the other two. So, the guys get their dollar back, making their outlay $9 each. 9 times 3 is 27 and the bellhop pocketed $2. That totals $29. What happened to the other dollar? I don’t have the answer and cannot figure it out. Help please! ---
**Author:** ![Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2002, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-the-dollar/131109/2 "2002-10-06T22:40:40Z")
See, her daughter had died of cholera, but the hotel didn’t want to admit it, so they cleaned the room up and pretended that they hadn’t seen either of them before. It’s simple, really. ---
**Author:** ![Booker57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Booker57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Booker57)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2002, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-the-dollar/131109/3 "2002-10-06T22:40:43Z")
25$ for the room. 1$ for each man= 3$ Bellhop keeps 2$ Do the math. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2002, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-the-dollar/131109/4 "2002-10-06T22:43:35Z")
[It has to do with limits and trigonometry.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=13188) ---
**Author:** ![samarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@samarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samarm)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2002, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-the-dollar/131109/5 "2002-10-06T22:46:40Z")
The guys ended up paying 27 in total for the room. 25 of that ended up with the desk clerk. The other 2 ended up with the bellhop. There is no missing dollar. Simple. ---
**Author:** ![samarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@samarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samarm)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2002, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-the-dollar/131109/6 "2002-10-06T22:55:30Z")
I could have explained that a bit better: 1. $30 was paid by the guys to the desk clerk. 2. The desk clerk gave the bellhop $5 to give back to them. 3. The desk clerk now has **$25**. 4. The bellhop give $3 of the $5 back to the guys, leaving himself with **$2**. 5. The guys now have **$3**. **$25 + $2 + $3 = $30** If you follow this through logically it does make sense. ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2002, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-the-dollar/131109/7 "2002-10-06T23:09:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by HubZilla \* > I don’t have the answer and cannot figure it out. Help please! No offence **HubZilla** but I can’t believe you’ve been around here since June '99 and you’re posting stuff like this - there’d be an excuse if you were a newbie. A simple search would show that the same question comes up time and again, it gets the same rash of smart alec replies and the correct explanation. What’s next? Why do we park on the driveway but drive on the parkway? ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2002, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-the-dollar/131109/8 "2002-10-06T23:14:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by HubZilla \* > I don’t have the answer and cannot figure it out. Help please! No offence **HubZilla** but I can’t believe you’ve been around here since June '99 and you’re posting stuff like this - there’d be an excuse if you were a newbie. A simple search would show that the same question comes up time and again, it gets the same rash of smart alec replies and the correct explanation. What’s next? Why do we park on the driveway but drive on the parkway? ---
**Author:** ![Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2002, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-the-dollar/131109/9 "2002-10-06T23:15:23Z")
To piss off George Carlin, duh. ---
**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:** [October 8, 2002, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-the-dollar/131109/10 "2002-10-08T13:31:03Z")
The desk clerk used the other dollar to buy a gry. ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2002, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-the-dollar/131109/11 "2002-10-08T16:41:47Z")
Three guys walk into a hotel. The rate for 3 people is $30. They each pay $10 and head up to their room. Then the desk clerk realizes he made a mistake, and the ULTRA-special rate was $5 for 3 people. He gives $25 to the bellhop and tells him to return it to the three guys. On his way, the bellhop figures rather than splitting $25 three ways, it would be better to give each guy a dollar and pocket the other twenty-two. So, the guys get their dollar back, making their outlay $9 each. 9 times 3 is 27 and the bellhop pocketed $22. That totals $49 out of the original $30. Where can I get a money-making scheme like that? I don’t have the answer and cannot figure it out. Help please! ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2002, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-the-dollar/131109/12 "2002-10-08T19:28:47Z")
Obligatory mention of Straight Dope column (which was also mentioned in the thread to which Achernar provided a link): [Riddle: The 3 guys, the bellhop, and the missing buck](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a910621.html)