Editing Examples of Markov chains (section)

=== Board games played with dice ===

A game of [[snakes and ladders]] or any other game whose moves are determined entirely by [[dice]] is a Markov chain, indeed, an [[absorbing Markov chain]].  This is in contrast to card games such as [[blackjack]], where the cards represent a 'memory' of the past moves.  To see the difference, consider the probability for a certain event in the game. In the above-mentioned dice games, the only thing that matters is the current state of the board.  The next state of the board depends on the current state, and the next roll of the dice.  It does not depend on how things got to their current state.  In a game such as blackjack, a player can gain an advantage by remembering which cards have already been shown (and hence which cards are no longer in the deck), so the next state (or hand) of the game is not independent of the past states.