In a poker game, Janice's and Ralph's combined earnings totaled $150.

Question

In a poker game, Janice's and Ralph's combined earnings totaled $150. How much money did Janice win?

(1) Ralph's winnings equaled  \frac{1}{2}  of Janice's winnings

(2) Ralph won 10% of all the money won in the game.

mikemcgarry · Accepted Answer

Dear AbdurRakib , I'm happy to explain. :-)

We are told these two individuals are playing poker . Often poker is played by a group, but it is possible for just two people to play poker. If both Janice and Ralph won money in the game, then we know for a fact that they weren't playing just each other. There must have been at least one more person, some person or people who took the $150 loss on the other side of the $150 gain of these two. Statement #1: Ralph's winnings equaled \frac{1}{2} of Janice's winnings So, Ralph's winnings are "one part" and Janice's are "two parts," so together, the $150 represents "three parts." Ralph won $50 and Janice won $100. This statement leads directly to a definitive numerical answer to the prompt question. This statement, alone and by itself, is sufficient . Statement #2: Ralph won 10% of all the money won in the game. "All the money in the game" would mean the total amount bet by all players playing. How many players are playing? We don't know. Were Ralph and Janice the only players who gained money? Did other people gain money also? There's a ton we don't know, so we have no way to compute the total amount of money in the game. This statement, alone and by itself, is not sufficient . First statement is sufficient, second isn't. OA = (A) Just to make sure you are familiar with the terminology: suppose Janice, Ralph, Chris, Kevin, and I play poker. Suppose we each come to the table with $100, and at some point, each one of us has all that money in at least one bet on the table. This means there is $500 in the game. Now suppose at the end of the game: Janice walks away with $200 Ralph walks away with $150 Chris walks away with $100 Kevin walks away with $50 I walk away with $0 Then we would say, Janice has won $100 or netted $100 or cleared $50. Ralph netted $50. Chris broke even: he left the game with the exact same amount with which he started. Kevin has lost $50, or he is out $50, and I am out $100. That's the basic terminology concerning financial gains & losses in poker. Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

ajdse22 · Answer

Mike , Thanks for your response. Couple of questions:- 1) What if a person like me who has never played poker will understand that poker is zero sum game? The only reason I could make out the possibility of multi player game was from statement two. Thankfully I saw that coming and avoided the trap

2) This question is quite simple if we consider the possibility of other players in the game. It increases the difficulty not from a math quotient but from a verbal quotient. Do we we expect such questions on GMAt to appear on more challenging problem sets?

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear ajdse22 , I'm happy to respond. :-)

My friend, I don't think this is a very good question, a very GMAT-like question. It would be very much unlike the GMAT to make a problem hinge on the details of a game with which not everyone is familiar. I would say, on a side note, that poker is widely played enough that even if you don't play it, it would be worth reading a little about it just to get some familiarity with it. The game of poker readily lends itself to a number of metaphors, and if one of these metaphors were to arise in business school or in your career, it might be embarrassing not to know enough about the game to appreciate the metaphor. Mike :-)

MathRevolution · Answer

If we modify the original condition and the question, from J+R=150, there are 2 variables (J and R) and 1 equation (J+R=150). In order to match the number of variables and the number of equations, we need 1 equation. However, since con 1) and con 2) each has 1 equation, there is a high chance that D is the correct answer. 
In case of con 1), from R=J/2, the answer is unique and the condition is sufficient. 
In case of con 2), we cannot know ‘all the money won in the game’ it is out of scope and the condition is not sufficient. Hence, the correct answer is A.

decency · Answer

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In a poker game, Janice's and Ralph's combined earnings totaled $150.

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In a poker game, Janice's and Ralph's combined earnings totaled $150.

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