Open Ada's eSafe Thunderball Game - RULES

[TheGoodGuy]

The idea is that I have an eSafe which has a 6 digit combination required to open it.

1 of 14 players will be eligible to play each Wednesday & Saturday evening for up to a maximum of 14 draws, after which, if the eSafe has not been opened, the game ends and my wallet escapes unharmed.

Rules:
The eSafe will initially contain £34.

14 different people will be required to register to start the game.
Each person will be allocated a number between 1 & 14.
This number will correspond to one of the 14 ‘National Lottery’ Thunderballs..

People will remain ‘owners’ of their Thunderball number for as long as it takes until their number is actually drawn in the Wednesday & Saturday Thunderball draws.
After the first draw, people may ‘own’ a maximum of 2 Thunderball numbers at any time.

Once a Thunderball draw has taken place:

The person registered to the drawn Thunderball now has the opportunity to post a 6 digit combination of their choice to try and open my eSafe.

I will respond to their chosen combination by stating how many numbers they have guessed correctly followed by how many of those are actually in the correct position of the combination sequence, ie “You have correctly named 3 numbers, of which 1 is in the correct position of the combination sequence.”

If the chosen combination fails to open the eSafe, another player may now register to take the place of the person who has just failed to open it and take ‘ownership’ of the now vacant Thunderball number.

This will be the first person to correctly answer a question that I will post on the thread.

The amount of money in the eSafe will change from draw to draw according to the following rules:

RULE 1.
Each time the same Thunderball is drawn consecutively, the monetary equivalent value of the Thunderball will be DEDUCTED from the total in the eSafe.

RULE 2.
Each time the drawn Thunderball matches one of the Main balls drawn, the monetary equivalent value of the Thunderball will be ADDED to the total in the eSafe.

RULE 3.
Each time consecutively drawn Thunderballs are either both odd or even, the monetary equivalent value of the most recently drawn Thunderball will be DEDUCTED from the total in the eSafe
However….
Each time consecutively drawn Thunderballs alternate odd/even or even/odd, the monetary equivalent value of the most recently drawn Thunderball will be ADDED to the total in the eSafe

NOTE:
The above rules are used to determine the amount in the eSafe that will be up for grabs in the NEXT draw, NOT the amount currently being played for.

The only exceptions to this are:

If your name is highlighted in the list of ‘owners’ and your Thunderball is drawn, the eSafe contents will be DOUBLED until you post your chosen combination.
If you correctly post the correct combination to open the eSafe you win the doubled prize amount.
If you fail to open the eSafe, the contents return to the original amount and the game continues.

The eSafe contents will be immediately REDUCED by £14 every time someone posts a combination when they are NOT entitled to and ALSO if they FAIL to post a combination by the required deadline when it IS their turn to do so.

[TheGoodGuy]

IMPORTANT NOTE

Amendment to the rules:

The combination of the eSafe will consist of 6 digits, NOT 5 as earlier stated.

The game will initially last for up to 14 draws but...

Each time RULE 1 OR RULE 2 apply, in addition to the pot being increased or decreased, the game MAY be extended by 1 draw (see below for explanation).

Explanation
The combination length has been increased to 6 digits because:
While field testing the principles of this game I was playing Mastermind trying to identify a 5 coloured code from a pool of 8 different colours.
Over the number of games I played, I had a success rate of just over 60%, that is, correctly identifying the correct code within the number of attempts allowed.

Of course this game will have a pool of 10 digits (1 through to 0), NOT 8.
Using a combination length of exactly half the number of digits allowed (5 from 10), massively increases the player's chance of correctly identifying the combination within the number of attempts allowed.
My success rate increased to 90% playing this type of game.

As I am stumping up prize money for this game I have to try and tip the balance back towards me standing at least a chance of getting away with paying out as little as possible or ideally nothing at all.
(Obviously the amount I may have to pay is controlled by the Thunderball draws so that is in the lap of the Gods).

As I haven't tried playing a 6 from 10 game, I am hoping that I haven't tipped the balance too far in my favour, making it virtually impossible for you to get the correct answer within 14 attempts.
Hence I am willing to extend the game by 1 draw each time RULE 1 or RULE 2 apply. I appreciate this may not happen very often, if at all.
So I will reassess the progress of the game after draw 10 and MAY, at my discretion, increase the game length accordingly if it appears to me that the correct answer cannot be reasonably reached within the remaining number (4) of attempts allowed.
However, don't expect this to definitely happen. It will be a last resort goodwill gesture at best.
So unless notified AFTER draw 10, assume the game to end after 14 draws as originally stated.

I hope this is acceptable.

Ada.

[vegyjones]

Sounds fine to me! :wink

I have a copy of that mastermind game at home too!