Odds And How To Figure This Out.

[Juliebove]

Some years ago out of boredom, I decided to make a surprise ball for Christmas. Mostly I collected little items from all around the house that I didn't need or want. Like those things they give you at home parties like Tupperware. I was living in military housing at the time so went to a lot of parties! I also included some small candies and items from the dollar store. I used crepe paper to make the ball. That ball was almost the size of a basketball. The idea is... We all sit around the dining room table. We usually draw names to see who will start. That person will unwrap the ball until they get a prize. Then they pass it on to the next person. We just keep going until all the prizes are gone. The grand prize is in the center.

As the years have gone by, the ball has become a tradition and my mom asks my daughter and I to make it. I seem to spend more and more money on it each year and the ball grows bigger. Last year it was almost hard to handle. It was that big! And since I start accumulating things as I see them throughout the year, I can amass quite a lot. The things that go inside have to sort of conform to a certain size and shape. If they are flat, thin and bend, all the better. Last year I put in some small jars of a certain kind of jam that my mom and brother like. Those were hard to do! And I had some sort of tube of cosmetic (can't remember what it was) that kept sliding out. Some things are cheap like little toys and costume jewelry, but I also put in some gift cards and money.

Now here's the dilemma. I want to make sure that everyone gets at least one of the bigger prizes, like the money or gift cards. I tend to put the things in at random. One year my SIL kept getting the Zyliss clips. I had taken the clips off of the card and put them in one at a time. She was not unhappy because she said she had a use for the clips. Last year I put in three movie theater gift cards and my mom got all of them. Now to add to this... I don't know for sure how many people will be there. My husband intends to be there, but he is in the military. He has been called in to work before on holidays. My nephew's girlfriend works at a place with odd hours and she never knows what days she will work. It is highly likely she will have to work on Christmas Eve. She did last year. And since she has no car, he may have to leave to get her from work. So he may or may not be there to do the ball. I know we will have 6 people for sure. But there could be 7, 8 or 9 total.

I have a total of 12 gift cards. I have several $1 bills that I want to put in. I am not going to worry about those. But I want to put some $5 bills in as well. So far I have 4 of them to put in. But I guess I could put a few more if need be. Am still not sure what I will put in the middle as the grand prize.

At any rate, I figure that will be enough to make sure that everyone gets something of value. I know if I put the valuable things all in a row, then surely everyone will get one. But I like to mix things up a bit with perhaps one thing of value and then 3 or 4 cheaper things, like a single serving of salad dressing or a sticker.

This whole thing is giving me a headache. I do not know how many items I have total. I know there are at least a hundred. The ball will be very big. Does anyone have a clue how I could figure out how to do this? Could I do like...every 7th item as something of value? Would that work? I just picked a number at random. I am not good at math.

Thanks!

[Roda]

What about making two smaller balls and dividing the people into groups?

[Juliebove]

What about making two smaller balls and dividing the people into groups?

Then I would have to come up with two big prizes. And it would make it even more confusing to figure the odds.

I sat down with a piece of paper and tried to work it out. I think it will work to do every 7th thing as one of the gift cards.

[Jestgar]

If everyone draws in the same order, put all the gift cards one after another. That way everyone will get one.

[Juliebove]

If everyone draws in the same order, put all the gift cards one after another. That way everyone will get one.

The point is, I don't want to do that. There is no element of surprise that way. Also it would be next to impossible to do that and keep the shape. Yes at some points it won't exactly look like a ball. But you can't put several flat, stiff things one after the other. They just won't stay wrapped up. But every so often you can work one in.

[Skylark]

I sat down with a piece of paper and tried to work it out. I think it will work to do every 7th thing as one of the gift cards.

That sounds like such fun! And there must be crepe paper everywhere when you are done.

You can't do every 7th because if you get 7 people, the same person will get all the gift cards.

If you do a "goodie" every 5th item, they will spread pretty evenly among 6-9 people. You can count it out on your fingers to see what I mean. The only problem is that if a 10th person shows up it gets unfair. You would probably do the gift cards in the middle among the first 60 items you wrap to be sure they spread out fairly, then put some of your $5 every 5 items, then $1.

Your other choice is to work in sets of 11 items. Then you would put something nice like a $5 bill partway through your set of 11 items, like maybe at item #6 as you count and a gift card at item #11. Then start over with an nice item at #6 and another gift card at #11. Do the ball in sets of 11 and everybody gets a gift card and the $5 bills spread out reasonably well. Only problem is the ball would have to be over 120 items to have 10 items between each gift card. If there is any chance of a 10th person showing up, you will probably be happier with gift cards every 11.

(For the mathematically inclined, I believe this works because 5 and 11 are prime numbers and 6-9 are not divisible by them.)

[Juliebove]

That sounds like such fun! And there must be crepe paper everywhere when you are done.

You can't do every 7th because if you get 7 people, the same person will get all the gift cards.

If you do a "goodie" every 5th item, they will spread pretty evenly among 6-9 people. You can count it out on your fingers to see what I mean. The only problem is that if a 10th person shows up it gets unfair. You would probably do the gift cards in the middle among the first 60 items you wrap to be sure they spread out fairly, then put some of your $5 every 5 items, then $1.

Your other choice is to work in sets of 11 items. Then you would put something nice like a $5 bill partway through your set of 11 items, like maybe at item #6 as you count and a gift card at item #11. Then start over with an nice item at #6 and another gift card at #11. Do the ball in sets of 11 and everybody gets a gift card and the $5 bills spread out reasonably well. Only problem is the ball would have to be over 120 items to have 10 items between each gift card. If there is any chance of a 10th person showing up, you will probably be happier with gift cards every 11.

(For the mathematically inclined, I believe this works because 5 and 11 are prime numbers and 6-9 are not divisible by them.)

Well it seemed to work for me when I tried it (every 7th) but as I said, I am not good with math. I will do every 5th then. The other thing I thought of (but don't really want to do it this way) is to put some of the gift cards (enough for if they all show up) right in the center. Of course it would not be a round shape.

The other concern that I just thought of is this... Because some of the items are slippery, they will sometimes just pop out randomly. So even if I did put them in every 5th time, there is no way of knowing when some other item might work its way out.

It is very messy but that's part of the fun. Especially to see my husband freak out about it. He is very much a neatnick. Well he's actually a slob but he expects everybody else to be a neatnick. He hates the ball. But my family likes it.

[Skylark]

Well it seemed to work for me when I tried it (every 7th) but as I said, I am not good with math. I will do every 5th then. The other thing I thought of (but don't really want to do it this way) is to put some of the gift cards (enough for if they all show up) right in the center. Of course it would not be a round shape.

Every 7th works unless you have 7 people. Then person #7 always gets the goodie.

It sounds like even more fun with stuff popping out and your hubbie trying to clean up as it goes.

What if you put names on the cards? If someone gets a named card, they pass the card to the recipient and take the next goodie? Then everyone is waiting for the gift card with their name on it to show up in the ball!

[Juliebove]

Every 7th works unless you have 7 people. Then person #7 always gets the goodie.

It sounds like even more fun with stuff popping out and your hubbie trying to clean up as it goes.

What if you put names on the cards? If someone gets a named card, they pass the card to the recipient and take the next goodie? Then everyone is waiting for the gift card with their name on it to show up in the ball!

I'd rather not put names because the cards are for different amounts. Plus I don't know who will be there.