The Pirate’s Treasures
Jan 15th, 2008 by tony
Here’s a puzzle I heard from a friend yesterday. After a long drought devoid of any updates, I thought I’d post this one.
Five pirates have a chest of 100 gold coins to be divided amongst them. The pirates (A, B, C, D, E), are ranked by seniority, where A is the most senior pirate. The rules are these:
1. Pirate A presents a scheme of dividing the coins to the other pirates, who then vote on this scheme. If there is a majority (Pirate A also participates in the vote), then the coins are divided. If no majority is reached, Pirate A walks the plank and we proceed to the next step.
2. Pirate B presents a scheme, and have the remaining pirates vote on it. If there is a majority, then the coins are divided. If there is a tie, Pirate B have the final say. If a majority votes against the scheme, Pirate B walks the plank and we proceed to Pirate C.
3. Same as Step 1, except with only 3 pirates left. If no consensus is reached, we continue until there is one pirate left.
The question is, how should Pirate A divide the coins such that he gets as many coins as possible, assuming all pirates are extremely smart and knows the optimal strategy?
Pirate A should take 98 coins for himself and give 1 each to Pirates C and E.