Economics Challenge Series – Challenge 7: Even to Win Results and Challenge Series Finale

Hi Everyone,

This is the last results post for the 2023 Economics Challenge Series. In this post, I will present the results and winners of the final challenge, Even-to-Win. I will also announce the final results for the Challenge Series. The winner is determined by the accumulation of points across all challenges. I would like to thank all who participated. These challenges would be nothing without you.

What is the Even-to-Win Game?

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The ‘Even to Win’ Game requires participants to select a certain number of boxes (e.g. 7 out of 13 boxes). Each box has been assigned a value. The participant obtains that value if an even number of participants have selected that box. If only one participant selects the box, it does not award that value. If two participants select it, it offers the value stated in the question. If three participants select the box, it does not award that value. Some boxes have limits to the number of participants that can select them. For example, a box might have a limit of three participants. Once the third participant has selected the box, new participants can no longer select that box. Any new selections of the boxes once they have reached their limit will not be considered in determining the participant’s total value. However, their remaining selections will still be considered.

The objective of the game is to obtain the highest combined value from the boxes selected. If two participants obtain the same value, the participant who entered first wins. If nobody obtains a positive value (e.g. all boxes are selected by an odd number of participants), the prize will be rolled over to next month’s contest.

Responses to the challenge were made in the comments section of the challenge post. The total prize for this challenge is equivalent to 5 times the number of participants (e.g. if the challenge has 8 participants the prize will be 40 Hive Power (5 × 8)). The maximum prize for this challenge is 60 Hive Power. The winner receives 2/3 of the prize and 40 points. Second place receives 1/3 of the prize and 20 points. Third place receives 5 points, In addition to the winning prize, the first 12 entries were given upvotes.

The format of the required entry is explained in detail in the challenge itself.

For a more detailed explanation, you can access the challenge post using the following link.

Other challenges

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Below are the links to all seven challenges in the series.

• Challenge 1: Buying and Selling Game
• Challenge 2: Pick-a-Door
• Challenge 3: Complements and Substitutes
• Challenge 4: Buying and Selling Game (Business Version)
• Challenge 5: Ice Cream Game
• Challenge 6: Game Theory Game
• Challenge 7: Even-to-Win

Results of the ‘Even-to-Win’ Challenge

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Table 1 contains the boxes selected by each participant. The black boxes represent the selected boxes, red boxes have been selected after the limit, and white boxes were not selected.

Table 1: Boxes selected by participants

Table 2 contains the value of each box based on the number of selections made by participants (if even, the value of box is awarded; if not, box is worth zero) and the total number of selections for each box.

Table 2: Value of Boxes

Note: Dark green font represents boxes that reached their limit with an even number of participants. Red font represents boxes that reached their limit with an odd number of participants. Light green font represents boxes that boxes have an even number of participants. White font represents boxes that have an uneven number of participants.

Table 3 contains the value each participant obtained from each box as well as the combined value of the boxes they selected.

Table 3: Combined value of boxes selected by each participant

Note: Participants in red were disqualified from this challenge.

As the number of participants exceeded 12, the prize for this challenge is 60 Hive Power.

Congratulations to @practicaleric for winning the ‘Even-to-Win’ Game and a prize of 40 Hive Power and 40 points. Second place, @crrdlx wins 20 Hive Power and 20 points. Third place, @micheal87 wins 5 points.

@practicaleric selected boxes 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10 and 13. Six of these boxes were selected by an even number of participants. The total value for these boxes was 213. There were three other boxes with positive values. They were 1, 2, and 7. Boxes 1 and 7 were not available when @practicaleric entered as they had reached their limit.

The Disqualifications

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@practicaleric is the winner of this challenge but did not achieve the highest value from the boxes. The participants with higher values were disqualified. They were disqualified for colluding to determine winners from within their own group. @fatherfaith with some help from accounts @semperfortis and @pana1 reduced the value of all boxes without fixed limits to zero. See below.

Account @ftouch entered minutes before the challenge closed to give all the boxes selected by @fatherfaith an even number of participants. Therefore, guaranteeing that the @fatherfaith account obtained the joint highest score and would win based on the tie-breaker rules. This would also ensure that the @ftouch account would place second. This would secure the whole 60 Hive Power reward for this challenge to these two accounts. The win would have also secured the @fatherfaith account the series win and another 80 Hive Power.

This conduct is very disappointing. @fatherfaith has been a top competitor for a long time and has won many contests and challenges without needing to resort to dirty tactics. He could have won this year’s challenge series as well.

Tips for future ‘Even-to-Win’ games

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Winning this contest largely relies on luck but participants can do a number of things to improve their chances of winning. Box selection and timing of entry can play an important role in increasing these chances. Selecting earlier offers an advantage to players as they can win tie-breakers and have a wider choice of boxes; the boxes with a limit on the number of selections are available.

Entering later enables participants to analyse earlier participant’s selections. However, the entrance of another participant could completely change the game as boxes switch between even and odd number of selections; thus, any previous analysis is no longer relevant.

The participant to enter last (not known until the game has closed) most likely has an advantage over other participants. This is most likely the case if few participants have entered before him or her. However, the last participant to enter may not have a possible path to victory (i.e. lost before even entering).

Selecting a box with a limit on the number of participants may or may not be a good decision. For this game, the limits for some boxes were set as even and some as odd numbers. For boxes with even number limits, once the limit has been reached, the box will permanently have the stated value. Boxes with an even limit are normally a good selection. The only risk is that it might not reach its limit if the limit is set high and the number of participants are low.

For boxes with odd number limits, once the limit has been reached, the box will permanently have a zero value. Therefore, boxes with odd participation limits should be avoided under most circumstances. If the limit is very high and the value of the box is very high, a box with an odd limit could still be a good selection as the limit might not be reached. There are no certainties in this game.

Overall Series Score

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The Economics Challenge Series is over. The points can now by finalised and a winner can be announced. Below is the final table.

The winner for the 2023 Economics Challenge Series is @practicaleric. As the overall number of participants across all challenges exceeded 80, you have won the maximum reward of 80 Hive Power. You will receive this 80 Hive Power on the September Hive Power Up Day (HPUD).

I would also like to thank everyone who participated for making this the most popular Challenge Series I have run so far.

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More posts

I have several collection of posts. I have organised these collections based on content and purpose.

The first collection contains six collection posts created before PeakD had the collection feature. Four of these posts relate to the core of my content, one of them contains all my Actifit Posts, and one of the them contains my video course ‘Economics is Everyone’.

The second collection consists of the posts that I consider define my channel. These posts are significant in terms of content as well as how they contribute to the growth of the channel. These posts reveal the most about what I believe in.

The third and fourth collection is what I call my ‘Freedom-base Economics living book’. They contain all the posts that support my ideas about the value and power of freedom. Some of these posts explain what we can achieve with freedom and what we need to utilise it. Some of them explain how we are deprived of freedom and how we often give up freedom for security and comfort. The third collection concludes with possible scenarios depending on what we (society) choose to do.

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