[Math] How many ways can the baseball series be completed

combinationscombinatoricsdiscrete mathematics

In a baseball series, the first team to win 4 games wins the series. No more than 7 games are played.

  • a) If Team A wins the first 3 games, how many ways can the series be
    completed?
  • b) Suppose team A wins the first 2 games, how many ways can the
    series be completed?
  • c) How many ways can the world series be played if team A wins 4
    games in a row?
  • d) how many ways an a world series be played if no team wins 2 games
    in a row?

My attempt:

  • a) 4 ways
  • b) I was thinking of using C(5,2) which was = 10
  • c) 3 ways
  • d) Having hard time on this one.

Any help is appreciated.

Best Answer

  • a) There are $4$ games left to play. If $A$ wins the series then $A$ wins $1$ of those games: $\binom41$ possibilities. If $B$ wins the series then $B$ wins $4$ of those games: $\binom44$ possibilities. So in total $\binom41+\binom44=4+1=5$ possibilities.
  • b) There are $5$ games left to play. If $A$ wins the series then $A$ wins $2$ of those games: $\binom52$ possibilities. If $B$ wins the series then $B$ wins $4$ of those games: $\binom54$ possibilities. So in total $\binom52+\binom54=10+5=15$ possibilities.
  • c) $AAAA$, $BAAAA$, $BBAAAA$ or $BBBAAAA$ so $4$ possibilities.
  • d) $ABABABA$ or $BABABAB$ so $2$ possibilities.
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