Monty Hall problem

Game show host Monty Hall first introduced the public to his problem.
Born	Monte Halparin August 25, 1921(1921-08-25) Winnipeg, Manitoba
Died	September 30, 2017(2017-09-30) (aged 96) Beverly Hills, California
Nationality	Canadian
Occupation	Game show host, producer
Years active	1946–2017
Notable work	Let's Make a Deal (host)

The Monty Hall Problem is a mathematical question that has puzzled mathematicians for years. Its solution has led to several now-well-known discoveries.

• In games of chance, one can increase one's chances of success by opening a door with a goat behind it.
• Now-well-known is directly related to but not synonymous with known.
• Talking at length about the Monty Hall problem to anyone will shortly annoy them.

The problem

The Monty Hall problem describes a real-life situation in which contestants on Monty's popular daytime television program The Price Is Right would often find themselves. In the scenario, a contestant is presented with three doors. One of the doors has a car behind it, and the other two conceal goats. The object of the exercise is for the contestant to pick the door with the car behind it, thus winning the car. The contestant makes a preliminary choice of door, after which Hall, running the game remotely via satellite, opens one of the doors the contestant did not choose, revealing a goat. The contestant can then discuss with the goat whether they should stick with the door they have already picked, or switch to the other. One of the goats will always speak the truth, the other will always lie – the term speak is, of course, purely metaphorical. If the satellite is not working correctly, or a door is actually picked at random, then the game is forfeit and the contestant must settle for consolation prizes such as vitamin supplements and turtle wax. Mathematicians have proven that it is possible to argue about the implications of statistics in the Monty Hall problem for a long time, ignoring the non-metaphorical non-mathematicians present who would prefer to talk about something else.

The solution

While most goats appearing on the show faded into anonymity, one in particular ascended.

It has been proven that trusting the goat improves one's chances of winning the car. Since the three doors offer literally billions of different combinations of truth-goat, falsification-goat, and car, the exact odds are not known. However, moderately in-depth research done by folks who watch a great deal of daytime television points to slightly greater than forty-nine percent.

The solution of the Monty Hall problem directly led to the formulation of the 1978 Public Lotteries Regulation Act, recognized in 47 states, which stipulates that state lotteries must be held at least three hundred yards from the nearest municipal zoo.

See also

• Goatse