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

A spy was in Canada trying to steal insider information on how to set up new Maple Syrup factories in their country. He was introduced to the operations manager of the biggest factory in Canada. However, the manager was suspicious and decided to test him with a question before he trusted him. So he asked, “What would you be sure to find in the middle of Toronto?” The spy thought fast and came up with an answer for the manager. What was his answer?

Asked by Neha on 04 Jun 2025


Count the squares in the matchstick puzzle below?

Count the Squares

Asked by Neha on 17 Sep 2023

A train leaves from point A for point B at 80 mph. After half an hour, another train leaves from point B for point A at 60 mph.

Which of the trains will be farther from point A when they meet ?

Asked by Neha on 23 Jan 2021


If an electric train is travelling south, then which way is the smoke going?

Asked by Neha on 27 Aug 2025

You have to put a letter on the following to make it a meaningful word. The only challenge is that you can't use 'E'.

S E Q U E N C _

Asked by Neha on 23 May 2023

Can you divide the below-given shape into four equal and identical pieces?

Divide in Equal Shape

Asked by Neha on 27 Nov 2023


Distances from you to certain cities are written below.

BERLIN 200 miles

PARIS 300 miles

ROME 400 milesAMSTERDAM 300 miles

CARDIFF ??? miles

How far should it be to Cardiff ?

Asked by Neha on 25 Feb 2021

What is the fastest way to double your money?

Asked by Neha on 12 Feb 2023

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


James ordered a fishing rod, priced at $3.56. Unfortunately, James is an Eskimo who lives in a very remote part of Greenland and the import rules forbid any package longer than 4 feet to be imported. The fishing rod was 4 feet and 1 inch, just a little too long, so how can the fishing rod be mailed to James without breaking the rules? Ideally James would like the fishing rod to arrive in one piece!

Asked by Neha on 11 Apr 2022

Hot Articles

Amazing Facts

Gamers

In 2011, people playing Foldit, an online puzzle game about protein folding, resolved the structure of an enzyme that causes an Aids-like disease in monkeys. Researchers had been working on the problem for 13 years. The gamers solved it in three weeks.