Ebert’s Asymmetric Three Person Three Color Hat Game

We generalize Ebert’s Hat Problem for three persons and three colors. All players guess simultaneously the color of their own hat observing only the hat colors of the other players. It is also allowed for each player to pass: no color is guessed. The team wins if at least one player guesses his or her hat color correct and none of the players has an incorrect guess. This paper studies Ebert’s hat problem, where the probabilities of the colors may be different (asymmetric case). Our goal is to maximize the probability of winning the game and to describe winning strategies. In this paper we use the notion of an adequate set. The construction of adequate sets is independent of underlying probabilities and we can use this fact in the analysis of the asymmetric case. Another point of interest is the fact that computational complexity using adequate sets is much less than using standard methods.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Journal of Experimental Mathematics
Published
2025-02-28
DOI
https://doi.org/10.56994/jxm.001.001.006
Primary Topic
Mathematics and Applications
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Ebert’s Asymmetric Three Person Three Color Hat Game

Theo van Uem
Journal of Experimental Mathematics
Mathematics and Applications
article

Ebert’s Asymmetric Three Person Three Color Hat Game

Theo van Uem
article en

Abstract

We generalize Ebert’s Hat Problem for three persons and three colors. All players guess simultaneously the color of their own hat observing only the hat colors of the other players. It is also allowed for each player to pass: no color is guessed. The team wins if at least one player guesses his or her hat color correct and none of the players has an incorrect guess. This paper studies Ebert’s hat problem, where the probabilities of the colors may be different (asymmetric case). Our goal is to maximize the probability of winning the game and to describe winning strategies. In this paper we use the notion of an adequate set. The construction of adequate sets is independent of underlying probabilities and we can use this fact in the analysis of the asymmetric case. Another point of interest is the fact that computational complexity using adequate sets is much less than using standard methods.

Journal of Experimental MathematicsVol. 1(1)
Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (NL)
Openalex Percentile: Top 93%
Mathematics and Applications
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.

Ebert’s Asymmetric Three Person Three Color Hat Game — Theo van Uem · Journal of Experimental Mathematics (2025) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS