Keep alive Riddle

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John, Tony and Jacob plans for gun fighting.
They each get a gun and take turns shooting at each other until only one person is left.

Story suggests:
John hits his shot 1/3 of the time, gets to shoot first.
Tony, hits his shot 2/3 of the time, gets to shoot next if still living.
Jacob having perfect record at shooting(100% accuracy) shoots last , if alive.

The cycle repeats.
If you are John, where should you shoot first for the highest chance of survival?

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  • 1 Answer(s)
    Best answer

    Answer- I(John) will shoot at the ground.

    If John shoots the ground, it is Tony’s turn. Tony would rather shoot at Jacob than John, because he is better. If Tony kills Jocob, it is just John and Tony left, giving John a fair chance of winning.

    If Tony does not kill Jacob, it is Jacob turn. He would rather shoot at Tony and will definitely kill him. Even though it is now John against Jacob, John has a better chance of winning than before.

    WIN WIN Situation

    SherlockHolmes Expert Answered on 6th January 2018.

    I don’t get the second situation when John faces Jacob, why John has a better chance of winning than the first situation?
    I think John, Tony and Jacob already know how accuracy of each other’s shot, so I will shoot Jacob first. Next turn, Tony will shoot Jacob too, because if John or Tony faces Jacob last, we definitely have less chance of survival. So John and Tony must kill Jacob first and that leads to a 50/50 situation in last round

    on 11th October 2018.

    Dear Enka 271,
    If you shoot Jakob first and you kill him than the second shot goes to tony and now he faces you!! So by shooting anywhere but one the other persons means than the 2nd shooter is Tony. If he kills Jacob than its your turn, and if he missed the its Jacob’s turn and he will kill tony because if he kills you it will be Tony’s turn which his hits ratio is greater than yours and might win. Therefor the solution suggested is correct

    on 31st July 2022.
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