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Paul likes to bet on the football. Each morning, he places bets on which team will win the day's matches. For each bet, he will either win or lose, depending on the outcome of the match. The matches start and finish whilst Paul is at work.

Every day, he walks to work, spends his day in the office, and then travels back home. On his way walking home from work, he sometimes checks the results of the day's football matches on his phone. However, sometimes he forgets to do this, and instead he checks the results once he has arrived home.

On the days he checks on his way home, he always loses more money than if he were to check after arriving home. Why is this?

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  • $\begingroup$ Does this mean that he always loses when he checks on the way? Or that if only if he were to lose he loses more? $\endgroup$
    – Ivo
    Commented Apr 7, 2016 at 12:44
  • $\begingroup$ Regardless of whether he wins or loses $\endgroup$
    – Karnivaurus
    Commented Apr 7, 2016 at 12:54
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    $\begingroup$ This is too broad. $\endgroup$
    – manshu
    Commented Apr 7, 2016 at 12:54
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    $\begingroup$ @Karnivaurus , please add more details to narrow the answer set, and then vote/flag to reopen . $\endgroup$
    – Arun Xavier
    Commented Apr 7, 2016 at 13:20

9 Answers 9

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This is built off of question_asker's answer below (and the comment from Karnivaurus).

Here's the key phrase:

On the days he checks on his way home, he always loses more money than if he were to check after arriving home.

He loses more because:

It's not that he loses more on days when he checks on his way home. It's that IF he checks on his way home he loses more ON THAT DAY than if he were to wait and check when he's home. This must be true because checking on his phone costs him more money than checking from home.

Clearly, he's paying a flat rate for internet at home regardless of how much data he uses, but a "per MB" rate for data on his phone. Thus, checking scores at home incurs no extra costs, while checking on his phone costs him a bit extra.

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    $\begingroup$ This is the same as question_asker's answer. $\endgroup$
    – f''
    Commented Apr 7, 2016 at 23:11
  • $\begingroup$ It's partly the same, yes, though given the OP's comment that it wasn't "precise" enough I expanded a bit on it. I meant to give credit to the post but forgot. I'll add it in! $\endgroup$
    – Duncan
    Commented Apr 7, 2016 at 23:54
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While he's on the way home,

if he wins he stops at a bar to celebrate it, so he loses some of his winnings. If he loses, he stops at a bar to drink and lament his loss. Either way, he loses money. If he's home he just stays home!

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    $\begingroup$ This is a really great answer -- probably better than my intended one -- but not the one I was thinking of $\endgroup$
    – Karnivaurus
    Commented Apr 7, 2016 at 12:53
  • $\begingroup$ someone with better English may edit this , I think the idea is clear , but language is bad:) $\endgroup$
    – Arun Xavier
    Commented Apr 7, 2016 at 12:54
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Maybe

Paul has some kind of metered internet on his phone, where checking the scores necessarily costs him some money.

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  • $\begingroup$ Close, but not quite precise enough... $\endgroup$
    – Karnivaurus
    Commented Apr 7, 2016 at 12:52
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    $\begingroup$ @Karnivaurus lol, good luck getting whatever answer you were thinking of $\endgroup$
    – question_asker
    Commented Apr 7, 2016 at 12:53
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I think:

He checks the results on his phone whilst driving and gets pulled over and penalized. He loses money by paying the fines. It definitely would be an added loss to the money he loses on the bets.

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    $\begingroup$ Nice try, but not the answer I was thinking of. In fact, Paul doesn't even drive. $\endgroup$
    – Karnivaurus
    Commented Apr 7, 2016 at 12:39
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    $\begingroup$ Now this comment invalidates my answer. Please put this as an edit to the question to narrow down possibilities. $\endgroup$
    – Ghapla
    Commented Apr 7, 2016 at 12:44
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    $\begingroup$ It's a good [lateral thinking] answer for the way the question was phrased, even if it's been changed now to shut it out. $\endgroup$
    – Samthere
    Commented Apr 7, 2016 at 13:03
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Maybe

The reason for him to check on the way home in the first place is because he placed a huge bet and therefore more eager to check the scores whenever he can. Whenever he places small bets he doesn't bother that much about that.

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  • $\begingroup$ It seems that this would be a huge coincidence, that he always loses his big bets. $\endgroup$
    – question_asker
    Commented Apr 7, 2016 at 12:43
  • $\begingroup$ It's a nice idea, but not what I was looking for $\endgroup$
    – Karnivaurus
    Commented Apr 7, 2016 at 12:51
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I think:

He lives next to the football ground, where the team is celebrating, or the results are posted some way 'offline' like on a notice board near his home. If he checks on his phone on the way, he has to pay for either data or a phone call to check the results, so it costs him money, but when he gets home he can get the answer for 'free'.

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  • $\begingroup$ Almost..... But he still checks online when he is home. I think I'm just being pedantic 😊 $\endgroup$
    – Karnivaurus
    Commented Apr 7, 2016 at 13:01
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    $\begingroup$ "I think I'm just being pedantic" What makes you think that? ;P counts 8 possible answers $\endgroup$
    – Kevin Cruijssen
    Commented Apr 7, 2016 at 13:04
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Is it because:

phone calls from a mobile phone cost more than from a landline

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  • $\begingroup$ This is very close to my intended answer.... $\endgroup$
    – Karnivaurus
    Commented Apr 7, 2016 at 12:51
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I think:

The app he uses for betting has a premium feature to check the results, for which you have to pay

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His phone is severely compromised by hackers. Every time he uses it for his betting, his card details get stolen and he loses money. He keeps having to get new cards!

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