The Ping Pong Puzzle

Three friends – A, B, and C, are playing ping pong. They play the usual way – two play at a time, the winner stays on the table, the loser lets the third one play. If you know that A played 10 matches in total, B played 15 matches in total, and C played 17 matches in total, who lost the second game?

SOLUTION

A lost it. Since there have been (10 + 15 + 17) / 2 = 21 games played in total, and each player never misses 2 games in a row, the only way for A to play just 10 games is if he plays the 2nd, 4th, 6th, etc. games, and every time loses.

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