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When to keep rolling dice with a doubles wipeout

Question

In a game you repeatedly roll two fair dice, adding the total to your winnings each time. You may stop whenever you like and keep your winnings, but if a roll shows doubles the game ends and you lose everything accumulated. For which current winnings should you roll again?

Short answer

Roll again while your total is below 35. With current total xx, one more roll is worth 56(x+7)\tfrac56(x+7), since non-double rolls still average 7. This beats stopping exactly when x<35x<35; at 35 you are indifferent, and above it you should stop.

Adapted from OpenQuant; question and answer rewritten by SelfMadeQuant.com.

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