On Parrondo's paradox: how to construct unfair games by composing fair games

Abstract

AbstractWe construct games of chance from simpler games of chance. We show that it may happen that the simpler games of chance are fair or unfavourable to a player and yet the new combined game is favourable—this is a counter-intuitive phenomenon known as Parrondo's paradox. We observe that all of the games in question are random walks in periodic environments (RWPE) when viewed on the proper time scale. Consequently, we use RWPE techniques to derive conditions under which Parrondo's paradox occurs.