life or death

You are a prisoner sentenced to death. The Emperor offers you a chance to live by playing a simple game. He gives you 50 black marbles, 50 white marbles, and 2 empty bowls. He then says, 'Divide these 100 marbles into these 2 bowls. You can divide them any way you like as long as you use all the marbles. Then I will blindfold you and mix the bowls around. You then can choose one bowl and remove ONE marble. If the marble is WHITE you will live, but if the marble is BLACK... you will die.'

How do you divide the marbles up so that you have the greatest probability of choosing a WHITE marble?




Similar Riddles

The captain of a ship is telling you an interesting story and then poses a question. He says, “I have travelled the oceans far and wide. One time, two of my sailors were standing on opposite sides of the ship. One was looking west and the other one east. And at the same time, they could see each other clearly. Can you tell me how that was possible?”

Asked by Neha on 11 Jun 2025


I have 50 feet long of cloth, I need to create 50 handkerchiefs each size of 1 foot. I take one minute to cut a 1-foot handkerchief. So how long will it take to cut 50 handkerchiefs?

Asked by Neha on 05 Sep 2024

Double it and multiply it by 4. Then divide it by 8 and you’ll have it once more. What number is it?

Asked by Neha on 23 Oct 2025


Three men in a cafe order a meal the total cost of which is $15. They each contribute $5. The waiter takes the money to the chef who recognises the three as friends and asks the waiter to return $5 to the men.

The waiter is not only poor at mathematics but dishonest and instead of going to the trouble of splitting the $5 between the three he simply gives them $1 each and pockets the remaining $2 for himself.

Now, each of the men effectively paid $4, the total paid is therefore $12. Add the $2 in the waiters pocket and this comes to $14. Where has the other $1 gone from the original $15?

Asked by Neha on 06 Sep 2021

Given that

(78)^9 = 6
And (69)^4 = 11

Can you find out

(99)^2 =?

(Note: This is Logical, not Mathematical)

Asked by Neha on 19 Apr 2024

What animal walks on four legs in the morning, two legs during the day, and three legs in the evening?

Oedipus, the king of Thebes, figured out the answer to the riddle:

Asked by Neha on 13 Sep 2025


There are hundred red gems and hundred blue gems. The blue gems are priceless while the red gems equal wastage. You have two sacks one labeled Heads and the other Tails. You have to distribute the gems as you want in the two sacks. Then a coin will be flipped and you will be asked to pick up a gem randomly from the corresponding sacks.

How will you distribute the gems between the sacks so that the odds of picking a Blue gem are maximum?

Asked by Neha on 29 May 2023

Which letter of the alphabet has the most water?

Asked by Neha on 03 Aug 2025

"That Restaurant always remains crowded. This is the reason why nobody goes there".

Can you find a flaw in this statement?

Asked by Neha on 06 Apr 2024


A very interesting trivia question for all.

Why do men's shirts have their buttons on the right side and women's have buttons on the left-hand side?

Asked by Neha on 04 Nov 2023

Hot Articles

Amazing Facts

Out of the Box

The phrase “thinking outside the box” was popularised from the solution to a topographical puzzle involving 9 dots in a box shape.