Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2017/10/01/monty-hall-1921-2017.html
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What would my DMing style have been like if it weren’t for Hall?!?! RIP, you magnificent giver of gifts.
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I always thought “Monty Haul” was a bit of a misnomer. As the article states, Hall was quite skilled at misleading contestants about the value of prizes, rather than simply handing out the good stuff for little challenge. A true namesake DM would get the players to swap that +5 sword for a potion of plant control, probably by adding some Pop Rocks to make it seem exotic.
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One of the few game show hosts to have a theory of probability named after him.
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At the Pearly Gates St. Peter will be asking him “You can have the paradise you see stretched out before you, or you can trade it all for whatever is in this box!”
(I bet that thing with the jar full of nickels was semi-staged, like the producers found out this woman was carrying a jar of change and figured “this will make good TV.” After all, you remembered it decades later, so they would have been right.)
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70’s game shows were some of my favorite things on TV when I was a kid. And Let’s Make a Deal along with Match Game and Hollywood Squares were tops for me.
RIP to Mr. Hall.
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It’s a tricky paradox, too. But as long as you remember you had a 2/3 chance of initially picking a goat and the host has to reveal a goat, you can see it’s not just a 50-50 chance at the end.
Also goes to show that being a pessimist who calculates how boned they are can help them find a winning alternative when it presents itself.
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The key is that the host has to reveal a goat. The problem is often stated without that proviso, which adds a lot of information. If the door was opened at random, the answer would be 50:50.
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As one does. 
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“Ma’am, I will give you $100 if you have a bobby pin in your purse! No bobby pin? Okay, I’ll give you $50 if you have a rubber band in there!”
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Goat A, Goat B, or Goat C?
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My aunt was on that show. She says the goat was stringy and tough, not farm-quality at all.
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My favourite moment was when he told the person they’d get $100.00 if they had some nails. They were quick enough to show Monty their thumbs and wound up with over $200.00 (can’t remember if he went all the way to $500.00) for outsmarting him.
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My style was to mix up extremely powerful items with deception and outright lies. I did my best to always make sure there was a goat somewhere. Monty was my idol.
I also always wondered (and I’m sure I could find this on the intertubes) whether he knew that his name had become associated not just with a mathematical problem but with a style of game mastering in role playing games.
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Lawd, let’s hope that’s not the one to be revealed.
Marc Maron has reposted his podcast featuring Monty Hall. Great interview, the story how a friend was able to help him pay for school and how he paid it forward is inspiring. Very enthralling, I wasn’t really interested, but I thought I’d give try. Monty shared many stories from his life. Let’s make a deal beginnings and some favorites stories he had, his charity work (which I had no knowledge of) and the gratitude that he expressed
R.I.P.
My favorites were Jeopardy!, Bowling for Dollars, and Make me Laugh.
How’s that for eclecticism?
I refuse to believe that there isn’t a single person out there who would rather have the goat.
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