stackyFACTS
Culture & entertainment

How one contestant broke split-or-steal

HERE’S THE INTERESTING PART

Prisoner's dilemma theory met its match on a British game show. When faced with the choice to split or steal the prize money, one contestant promised to steal and split it after the show, completely breaking the opponent's leverage. It was a spectacular display of game theory that essentially broke the show's entire psychological premise in real-time.

How one contestant broke split-or-steal
STACKY / Culture & entertainment
One discovery leads to another.

Keep exploring facts in this topic.

Culture & entertainment →
STACKY FOR IPHONE

A bigger world.
One discovery
at a time.

Keep discovering with Stacky. Interesting facts in an app that is always within reach.

Download on the App Store
ONE MORE DISCOVERY?

Keep exploring

All in this topic →
Culture & entertainment

How an ice-cream driver beat a game show

Game show producers always think they are smarter than the public until they get robbed blind. In the 1980s, an unemployed ice cream truck driver realized the…

Discover more
Millionaire uses a rigid fifteen-question logic tree
Culture & entertainment

Millionaire uses a rigid fifteen-question logic tree

Becoming a millionaire is just surviving a spreadsheet. The game is perfectly structured so that the first few questions are practically impossible to fail,…

Discover more
Some quiz shows hire experts to beat contestants
Culture & entertainment

Some quiz shows hire experts to beat contestants

Some shows literally hire professional trivia mercenaries to stop normal people from winning money. These chasers are not just smart; they are competitively…

Discover more
Lingo uses an electronic hopper instead of real balls
Culture & entertainment

Lingo uses an electronic hopper instead of real balls

The satisfying clack of bingo balls is a total lie. While early versions of the show used physical spheres, modern iterations rely entirely on an electronic…

Discover more
Ninja Warrior obstacles require professional testing
Culture & entertainment

Ninja Warrior obstacles require professional testing

You aren't just watching random people fall into water. Every single obstacle is rigorously tested by professional climbers and athletes to ensure a precise…

Discover more
Taskmaster's mansion is actually a tiny cottage
Culture & entertainment

Taskmaster's mansion is actually a tiny cottage

The majestic estate where comedians perform absurd tasks is not majestic at all. It is literally a small, former groundskeeper cottage that is barely large…

Discover more
StackyMore discoveries in the app
Download on the App Store