• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EST 17:32
CET 23:32
KST 07:32
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
HomeStory Cup 28 - Info & Preview10Rongyi Cup S3 - Preview & Info3herO wins SC2 All-Star Invitational14SC2 All-Star Invitational: Tournament Preview5RSL Revival - 2025 Season Finals Preview8
Community News
Weekly Cups (Jan 19-25): Bunny, Trigger, MaxPax win3Weekly Cups (Jan 12-18): herO, MaxPax, Solar win0BSL Season 2025 - Full Overview and Conclusion8Weekly Cups (Jan 5-11): Clem wins big offline, Trigger upsets4$21,000 Rongyi Cup Season 3 announced (Jan 22-Feb 7)38
StarCraft 2
General
HomeStory Cup 28 - Info & Preview StarCraft 2 Not at the Esports World Cup 2026 Weekly Cups (Jan 19-25): Bunny, Trigger, MaxPax win Oliveira Would Have Returned If EWC Continued herO wins SC2 All-Star Invitational
Tourneys
HomeStory Cup 28 KSL Week 85 $21,000 Rongyi Cup Season 3 announced (Jan 22-Feb 7) OSC Season 13 World Championship $70 Prize Pool Ladder Legends Academy Weekly Open!
Strategy
Simple Questions Simple Answers
Custom Maps
[A] Starcraft Sound Mod
External Content
Mutation # 510 Safety Violation Mutation # 509 Doomsday Report Mutation # 508 Violent Night Mutation # 507 Well Trained
Brood War
General
Bleak Future After Failed ProGaming Career [ASL21] Potential Map Candidates BW General Discussion Potential ASL qualifier breakthroughs? BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues Small VOD Thread 2.0 Azhi's Colosseum - Season 2 [BSL21] Non-Korean Championship - Starts Jan 10
Strategy
Zealot bombing is no longer popular? Simple Questions, Simple Answers Current Meta Soma's 9 hatch build from ASL Game 2
Other Games
General Games
Nintendo Switch Thread Battle Aces/David Kim RTS Megathread Path of Exile Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Beyond All Reason
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Hager werken embalming powder+27 81 711 1572
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine YouTube Thread
Fan Clubs
The herO Fan Club! The IdrA Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Anime Discussion Thread
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
How Esports Advertising Shap…
TrAiDoS
My 2025 Magic: The Gathering…
DARKING
Life Update and thoughts.
FuDDx
How do archons sleep?
8882
James Bond movies ranking - pa…
Topin
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1518 users

Pennies On A Table

Blogs > Slithe
Post a Reply
Slithe
Profile Blog Joined February 2007
United States985 Posts
February 05 2008 23:08 GMT
#1
Another puzzle guys. This one is kinda neat, but pretty simple.

You're playing a two-player turn based game. You have a circular table, 1 meter in diameter. You and your opponent take turns putting 1 centimeter pennies on the table. The pennies cannot overlap each other, and they must stay completely on the table.

If you cannot put down a penny on your turn, you lose the game.

Would you rather go first or second, and what would your strategy be?

****
Daveed
Profile Blog Joined December 2006
United States236 Posts
February 05 2008 23:14 GMT
#2
+ Show Spoiler +
I would Go first/put the penny right on the center.
Cascade
Profile Blog Joined March 2006
Australia5405 Posts
February 05 2008 23:15 GMT
#3
On February 06 2008 08:14 Daveed wrote:
+ Show Spoiler +
I would Go first/put the penny right on the center.


+ Show Spoiler +
ahh, that's sweet! And then just put pennies exactly on the opposite side of the centre penny as his pennies I guess?
DamageControL
Profile Blog Joined July 2007
United States4222 Posts
February 05 2008 23:23 GMT
#4
On February 06 2008 08:15 Cascade wrote:
Show nested quote +
On February 06 2008 08:14 Daveed wrote:
+ Show Spoiler +
I would Go first/put the penny right on the center.


+ Show Spoiler +
ahh, that's sweet! And then just put pennies exactly on the opposite side of the centre penny as his pennies I guess?

breakable aint it? I mean this would rely on PRECISION placement. No would have to be dead on, every time. There must be more effective ways
Liquid | SKT
Folca
Profile Blog Joined October 2006
2235 Posts
February 06 2008 00:26 GMT
#5
just play retardedly, its a 50/50% chance unless your opponent is einstein or somethin
Dea : one time when he was playing vs the comps he asked me "how do I make that flying unit that makes the other stuff invisible" and I reply "ur playing terran zomg"
Meta
Profile Blog Joined June 2003
United States6225 Posts
February 06 2008 01:27 GMT
#6
there's gotta be a mathematical solution to how many pennies can be on the table. can you move pennies that are already on the table?
good vibes only
fight_or_flight
Profile Blog Joined June 2007
United States3988 Posts
February 06 2008 01:43 GMT
#7
On February 06 2008 08:23 DamageControL wrote:
Show nested quote +
On February 06 2008 08:15 Cascade wrote:
On February 06 2008 08:14 Daveed wrote:
+ Show Spoiler +
I would Go first/put the penny right on the center.


+ Show Spoiler +
ahh, that's sweet! And then just put pennies exactly on the opposite side of the centre penny as his pennies I guess?

breakable aint it? I mean this would rely on PRECISION placement. No would have to be dead on, every time. There must be more effective ways

I don't think it would work. What if the second player put a penny down 0.7 cm away from yours, at a 25º angle?
Do you really want chat rooms?
Daveed
Profile Blog Joined December 2006
United States236 Posts
February 06 2008 01:55 GMT
#8

+ Show Spoiler +
Actually, if the coin overlaps the exact center of the table at all, you've won.


A few replies to the people above:

@ DamageControL:

In mathematical games like this, you usually assume exact movements from yourself, as well as perfect strategy from the opponent. At any rate, if you carry this out correctly, there's no way you can lose.

@ fight/flight- I don't understand what you mean. At a 25 degree angle? With respect to... what?

@ meta- sure, you could figure out what the max number of pennies are that could fit on a table. But this would require that the pennies be put on in a specific pattern; what if one of the players placed their penny out of position for this "perfect arrangement"? That would mess things up.
Cambium
Profile Blog Joined June 2004
United States16368 Posts
February 06 2008 02:18 GMT
#9
On February 06 2008 08:14 Daveed wrote:
+ Show Spoiler +
I would Go first/put the penny right on the center.


Cool.
When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.
EmeraldSparks
Profile Blog Joined January 2008
United States1451 Posts
February 06 2008 02:22 GMT
#10
Take the pennies and run.
But why?
ZaplinG
Profile Blog Joined February 2005
United States3818 Posts
February 06 2008 02:29 GMT
#11
haha
Don't believe the florist when he tells you that the roses are free
Slithe
Profile Blog Joined February 2007
United States985 Posts
February 06 2008 04:57 GMT
#12
Daveed's solution is correct. Congratulations!

+ Show Spoiler +

Once you take the center, you know that anything your opponent does, there's always a mirror move on the other side that's open. There's no way for the opponent to "block" your move, because the only place where that would be possible is in the middle, which you already took.


For anyone who doubts the solution, you could always find a circular table, break out a lot of pennies, and test for yourself .
fight_or_flight
Profile Blog Joined June 2007
United States3988 Posts
February 06 2008 05:10 GMT
#13
wow, thats actually pretty clever
Do you really want chat rooms?
Sigrun
Profile Blog Joined February 2007
United States1655 Posts
February 06 2008 07:31 GMT
#14
On February 06 2008 11:22 EmeraldSparks wrote:
Take the pennies and run.


This one looked like a better solution!
Graphics
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
The PiG Daily
21:40
Best Games of SC
Reynor vs Krystianer
herO vs Rogue
ByuN vs TriGGeR
Maru vs Solar
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
PiGStarcraft391
UpATreeSC 163
ProTech130
JuggernautJason108
StarCraft: Brood War
Shuttle 201
Dewaltoss 127
Dota 2
capcasts92
League of Legends
C9.Mang0157
Other Games
gofns14145
tarik_tv13117
FrodaN6755
Grubby3603
summit1g3361
Beastyqt847
Mlord620
KnowMe357
shahzam316
Pyrionflax314
Liquid`Hasu313
mouzStarbuck245
ToD104
Livibee88
ZombieGrub37
PPMD21
Organizations
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 19 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Hupsaiya 66
• RyuSc2 8
• sooper7s
• Migwel
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• intothetv
• IndyKCrew
• Kozan
StarCraft: Brood War
• FirePhoenix14
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
Dota 2
• masondota2628
• WagamamaTV486
League of Legends
• Nemesis7302
• Doublelift2496
Other Games
• imaqtpie1545
• Shiphtur227
Upcoming Events
Korean StarCraft League
4h 28m
HomeStory Cup
13h 28m
Replay Cast
1d 1h
HomeStory Cup
1d 14h
Replay Cast
2 days
Replay Cast
3 days
Wardi Open
3 days
WardiTV Invitational
4 days
The PondCast
5 days
WardiTV Invitational
5 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-01-29
OSC Championship Season 13
Underdog Cup #3

Ongoing

CSL 2025 WINTER (S19)
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 1
Acropolis #4 - TS4
Rongyi Cup S3
HSC XXVIII
IEM Kraków 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter Qual
eXTREMESLAND 2025
SL Budapest Major 2025
ESL Impact League Season 8

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S1: W7
Escore Tournament S1: W8
Acropolis #4
IPSL Spring 2026
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
Bellum Gens Elite Stara Zagora 2026
LiuLi Cup: 2025 Grand Finals
Nations Cup 2026
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League Season 23
ESL Pro League Season 23
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.