lyric © 2017 Lawrence M. Lesser
sing to the tune of “Every Breath You Take” (Sting)
For a two-man game
where chances are the same.
to win each frame,
you just play the game to a score agreed to.
If you take a break,
divvy up the stakes.
For fairness’ sake,
you may only take what is due to you.
Now we did see in 17th-century:
Pascal and Fermat gave a solution they made
Well, their letters say
just how many ways
the unfinished frames
could have been played and how odds accrue.
Problem solved, thanks to Pascal and Fermat,
but there is more that their answer did unlock:
Just look around at the theory that we use
of probability and its allied tools.
Let’s rejoice this problem of the points…….
Divvy up the stakes
for an unfinished game:
For fairness’ sake,
you may only take what is mu for you.