Gambling on HI–LO: An evaluation of alternative playing strategies

Gambling (betting and gaming) is an increasingly important sector of the UK leisure industry and gaming machines are a key category of licensed activity. Players' motivation to gamble is significantly influenced by game novelty so that machine manufacturers invest considerably in developing new state-of-the-art game designs. The statistical properties of HI–LO, a game used in many machine applications, are explored here and appropriate theory is developed. A series of EXCEL-based macros enable an analysis of payoffs for any HI–LO game to be undertaken across a range of contrasting playing behaviours.