Odds And Evens (hand Game)
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Odds and evens is a simple
game of chance A game of chance is in contrast with a game of skill. It is a game whose outcome is strongly influenced by some randomizing device. Common devices used include dice, spinning tops, playing cards, roulette wheels, numbered balls, or in the case ...
and
hand game Hand games are games played using only the hands of the players. Hand games exist in a variety of cultures internationally, and are of interest to academic studies in ethnomusicology and music education. Hand games are used to teach music litera ...
, involving two people simultaneously revealing a number of fingers and winning or losing depending on whether they are odd or even, or alternatively involving one person picking up coins or other small objects and hiding them in their closed hand, while another player guesses whether they have an odd or even number. The game may be used to make a decision or played for fun. The finger game is also known as swords, choosies, pick, odds-on poke, or bucking up. This
zero-sum game Zero-sum game is a Mathematical model, mathematical representation in game theory and economic theory of a situation that involves two competition, competing entities, where the result is an advantage for one side and an equivalent loss for the o ...
, a variation of the ancient morra and ''par-impar'', is played in Europe, the US, and in Brazil, especially among children.


History

This game was known by the
Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...
(as ''artiazein'') and
Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
(as ''ludere par impar''). In the 1858 Krünitzlexikon it says: "The game Odds and Evens was very common amongst the Romans and was played either with tali, tesseris, or money and known as "Alea maior", or with nuts, beans and almonds and known as "Alea minor"." A medieval reference is found in the ''
Renner Renner may refer to: A mathematical term Renner, foot-pound. The Renner(ˈrɛnɚ; rEh-ner; symbol:R) is a derived unit of energy. It is equal to the energy transferred to (or work done on) an object when one pound of force on an object in a directio ...
'' by
Hugo von Trimberg Hugo von Trimberg (born circa 1230/1235 in Wern(a), now either Ober- or Niederwerrn near Schweinfurt – died after 1313 in Bamberg-Theuerstadt) was a German didactic author of the Middle Ages. Around 1260 he came to the religious foundation ...
(verse 2695). Odds and Evens (''Gerade und Ungerade'') is included in the
list of games prohibited in Austria-Hungary In 1904, the Imperial and Royal Ministry of Justice ('' k. u. k. Justizministerium'') published the following list of games prohibited in Austria-Hungary. It was expanded by the state of Austria in 1933, was exemplary in Austria for many years and ...
in 1904 by the Ministry of Justice.


Playing

The game has similarities with the finger game of Morra or ''Fingerlosen'' (one person hides their hand and then quickly folds or extends one's fingers and the other player has to guess how many fingers are folded or extended). In Odds and Evens, however, individuals prepare by deciding who will be assigned
odds In probability theory, odds provide a measure of the probability of a particular outcome. Odds are commonly used in gambling and statistics. For example for an event that is 40% probable, one could say that the odds are or When gambling, o ...
and who will be evens. Then, one or both people say "One, two, three, shoot!" or "once, twice, three, shoot!" As the word "shoot" is said, the two people quickly and simultaneously thrust a fist into the center, extending either an index finger, or both the middle and index finger, indicating ''one'' or ''two''. The sum total of fingers displayed is either odd or even. If the result is odd, then the person who called odds is the victor, and can decide the issue as they see fit. Often, the participants continue to ''shoot'' for a best two out of three''. From a game-theoretic perspective, the game is equivalent to
matching pennies Matching pennies is a non-cooperative game studied in game theory. It is played between two players, Even and Odd. Each player has a penny and must secretly turn the penny to heads or tails. The players then reveal their choices simultaneously ...
. See that article for analysis of the strategies and chances of winning.


Adaption

The name Even-Odd or EO (''Gerade und Ungerade'') was even given to a predecessor of
roulette Roulette (named after the French language, French word meaning "little wheel") is a casino game which was likely developed from the Italy, Italian game Biribi. In the game, a player may choose to place a bet on a single number, various grouping ...
in the 18th century. This continues today in modern roulette in the bets on ''Pair'' and ''Impair''.


See also

*
Chetno i likho Cetno i licho is a simple game of chance, of ancient European provenance (see ''par-impar''), where the players had to guess if the hidden objects were ''even'' (''czetno'', ''cetno'', ''cet'' or ''čet'') or ''odd'' (''licho'', see likho, or ''li ...
– a game of chance where the players have to guess if the hidden objects are even or odd. *
Coin flipping Coin flipping, coin tossing, or heads or tails is using the thumb to make a coin go up while spinning in the air and checking which side is showing when it is down onto a surface, in order to randomly choose between two alternatives. It is a for ...
– a method of making a yes-or-no decision at random. *
Drawing straws Drawing is a visual art that uses an instrument to mark paper or another two-dimensional surface, or a digital representation of such. Traditionally, the instruments used to make a drawing include pencils, crayons, and ink pens, sometimes in com ...
– a method of making a group decision - choosing one member of the group. *
Matching pennies Matching pennies is a non-cooperative game studied in game theory. It is played between two players, Even and Odd. Each player has a penny and must secretly turn the penny to heads or tails. The players then reveal their choices simultaneously ...
– a game of chance with a similar strategic structure, using coins instead of fingers. *
Parity game A parity game is played on a colored directed graph, where each node has been colored by a priority – one of (usually) finitely many natural numbers. Two players, 0 and 1, move a (single, shared) token along the edges of the graph. The ow ...
– an unrelated (and much more complicated) two-player logic game, played on a colored graph. *
Rock paper scissors Rock, Paper, Scissors (also known by #Names, several other names and word orders) is an Intransitive game, intransitive hand game, usually played between two people, in which each player simultaneously forms one of three shapes with an outstret ...
– a game where each player has three alternatives instead of two.


References

{{Hand games Hand games Sampling (statistics) Gambling games Historical games