Gambling on HI-LO: An Evaluation of Alternative Playing Strategies (ANBAR Award)

Gambling (betting and gaming) is an increasingly important sector of the UK leisure industry and gaming machines, an important category of licensed activity. Players' motivation to gamble is significantly influenced by game novelty and machine manufacturers invest considerably in developing new state-of the-art game designs. The statistical properties of HI LO, a game used in many machine applications, are explored here and appropriate theory developed. A series of EXCEL-based macros enable an analysis of payoffs for any HI LO game to be undertaken across a range of contrasting playing behaviours.