As before, the safe strategy for ATV is to choose the row which maximizes the
worst that can happen. The maximum from {+1, −1, −3} is to choose Wales
(row 1). The safe strategy for BTV is to choose the column which minimizes from
{+4, +5, +1}. That is England (column 3).
By choosing Wales, ATV can guarantee to win no less than 1 million viewers
whatever BTV does, and by choosing England (column 3), BTV can guarantee to
lose no more than 1 million viewers whatever ATV does. These choices therefore
represent the best strategies for each company, and in this sense the game is
determined (but it is still unfair to BTV). In this game the
maximum of {+1, −1, −3} = minimum of {+4, +5, +1}
and both sides of the equation have the common value of +1. Unlike the first
game, this version has a ‘saddle-point’ equilibrium of +1.
Repetitive games
The iconic repetitive game is the traditional game of ‘paper, scissors, stone’.
Unlike the TV company game which was a one-off, this game is usually played
half a dozen times, or a few hundred times by competitors in the annual World
Championships.
In ‘paper, scissors, stone’, two players show either a hand, two fingers, or a
fist, each symbolizing paper, scissors or stone. They play simultaneously on the