Monty Hall problem

English Alternative forms en Monty Hall paradox Monty's dilemma Etymology en American statistician Steve Selvin 1975 1, named after Monty Hall, former host of the American television game show Let's Make a Deal. Noun A brainteaser regarding probability, in which a game show contestant picks a door to win a prize. One door conceals a car; the other two conceal goats. After the contestant picks a door, the host opens one of the two remaining doors which reveals a goat. Counterintuitively, it is then in the contestant's interests to switch to the remaining door. en John Tierney Behind Monty Hall's Doors: Puzzle, Debate and Answer? The New York Times 1991-07-21 https://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/21/us/behind-monty-hall-s-doors-puzzle-debate-and-answer.html 0362-4331 A few mathematicians were familiar with the puzzle long before Ms. vos Savant's column. They called it the Monty Hall Problem—the title of an analysis in the journal American Statistician in 1976—or sometimes Monty's Dilemma or the Monty Hall Paradox. https://web.archive.org/web/20260124130608/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/21/us/behind-monty-hall-s-doors-puzzle-debate-and-answer.html 24 January 2026 en 2009 Jason Rosenhouse The Monty Hall Problem: The Remarkable Story of Math's Most Contentious Brain Teaser Oxford University Press 9780199709908 42 https://books.google.com/books?id=cio1ViR8A7cC&pg=PA42&dq=%22Monty+Hall+problem%22&hl=&cd=3&source=gbs_api#v=onepage&q=%22Monty%20Hall%20problem%22&f=false In the Monty Hall problem, it is one thing if your initial choice is incorrect and you lose the game by failing to switch. It is quite another to be sitting on the correct door and then lose the game by moving away from it. en eponyms