Match-Play Game

Match-play games:

A match-play game assigns a probability weight of earning one point for each choice in the payoff table.  There is a preset point total needed to win the match.  The first player to reach this point total receives a predetermined payout and the opponent receives a payout of zero.  Using this game format, Mark Walker and John Wooders draw an analogy to a tennis game, where the player’s serve and return play are varied in order to create an seemingly unpredictable strategy.  They find the result of this action is a minimax outcome.  The match-play framework allows the experimenter to test ideas of mixed-strategy play, such as the minimax hypothesis.  For further information on the use of match-play games in this context see the reference below.

Reference:

Mark Walker and John Wooders, “Minimax Play at Wimbledon,” The American Economic Review, 91(5), 2001, pgs. 1521-1538.