Q 01/05

Which casino game is Blaise Pascal, of Pascal's triangle fame, said to have devised while chasing perpetual motion?

A) Roulette

B) Baccarat

C) Blackjack

D) Craps

Answer · why

A) Roulette

Roulette, many historians believe, began with a primitive wheel Pascal introduced in the 17th century during his hunt for a machine that never stops. ...

Q 02/05

Which chip-dropping peg-board game on TV's The Price Is Right spreads its chips by the odds in Pascal's triangle?

A) Bonkers

B) Rat Race

C) Bullseye

D) Plinko

Answer · why

D) Plinko

Plinko chips bounce left or right at every peg, so the routes to each slot follow the numbers of Pascal's triangle. That is why the middle slots catch...

Q 03/05

Which carol's gift totals, running 1, 4, 10, 20 up to 364, trace a diagonal of Pascal's triangle?

A) God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen

B) Twelve Days of Christmas

C) We Three Kings

D) Good King Wenceslas

Answer · why

B) Twelve Days of Christmas

Twelve Days of Christmas comes to 364 presents if every verse is delivered in full, one short of a gift for each day of the year. The running totals a...

Q 04/05

Entry 5 of row 52 in Pascal's triangle is 2,598,960, the number of possible hands in which card game?

A) Bridge

B) Cribbage

C) Poker

D) Gin rummy

Answer · why

C) Poker

Poker deals five cards from a deck of 52, and row 52 of the triangle lists how many ways each size of hand can be dealt. Only 4 of those 2,598,960 han...

Q 05/05

Which sports item names the Pascal's triangle pattern where a diagonal run sums to the number below its end?

A) Tennis racket

B) Baseball bat

C) Golf club

D) Hockey stick

Answer · why

D) Hockey stick

Hockey stick is the nickname because the summed diagonal forms the long shaft and the total, one step off to the side, forms the blade. For example, 1...