In a betting game there are five cards placed face down. Each has a number on it.

You win the bet if you end up with the card with the highest number.

You can select any of the cards at random, and having seen the number you can decide whether to accept the card or reject it and choose another, and you may do this as many times as you like, however once you have rejected a card you cannot get it back.

The actual values on the card give you no indication of whether you might have the highest, for instance ‘1’ may be the highest number, or ’50,000,000’ may be the lowest.

Since there are five cards you might think a fair price for the bet would be 4 to 1 against (you place £1 against the house’s £4 and if you win you take all £5). Instead you are offered a measly 3 to 2 against (you place £2 against the house’s £3 and if you win you take all £5).

Is it possible to beat the house? If so how?