# Three Slips of Paper Puzzler - Not Monty Hall **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Created:** [February 13, 2011, 8:39pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/three-slips-of-paper-puzzler-not-monty-hall/61291 "2011-02-13T20:39:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PoodleShooter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@PoodleShooter](https://community.cartalk.com/u/PoodleShooter)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 8:39pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/three-slips-of-paper-puzzler-not-monty-hall/61291/1 "2011-02-13T20:39:15Z")
Here’s my thought: Pick one number. Set it aside. Pick a second number. If bigger than the first, keep it. If smaller, pick the third. By discarding the first, you change the odds to 1/2. If the second is bigger than the first, then it’s 1/2 that the second will be bigger than the third. If the second is smaller than the first, the odds are 1/2 that the third will be bigger than the first. ---
**Author:** ![PoodleShooter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@PoodleShooter](https://community.cartalk.com/u/PoodleShooter)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 8:43pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/three-slips-of-paper-puzzler-not-monty-hall/61291/2 "2011-02-13T20:43:17Z")
Edited for clarity: Here’s my thought: Pick one number. Set it aside. Pick a second number. If bigger than the first, keep it. If smaller, pick the third. By discarding the first, you change the odds to 1/2. If the second is bigger than the first, we no longer care about the first, so the probability is 1/2 that the second will be bigger than the third. If the second is smaller than the first, we no longer care about the second, and the probability is 1/2 that the third will be bigger than the first. Needless to say I meant to post this in the Show section. Flagged my topic to see if it would go away.