The Dominant Strategy in a Cooking Show: How optimizing auction choices can you help a chef win in Cutthroat Kitchen
Link: https://www.susqu.edu/about-susquehanna/newsroom/economics-student-analyzes-cutthroat-kitchen
This article, written about Alyssa Koeck, discusses a study on how game theory and strategies are utilized within the TV show “Cutthroat Kitchen”. The article focuses on game theory, specifically on certain auction strategies, and how it can help an individual win on the Cutthroat Kitchen gameshow.
Cutthroat Kitchen is a cooking competition that involves 4 chefs who each receive $25,000 in the beginning of the game that they can spend throughout the show. There are 3 rounds, where chefs are expected to prepare dishes for the judge. After each round, a chef is eliminated from the show, which eventually leads to the remaining chef being declared the winner. However, there is a twist to this game! At the beginning of each round, chefs can utilize their $25,000 in auctions that allow them to purchase exclusive ingredients or purchase sabotages that hinder their opponents from creating their dishes. These chefs want to utilize these auctions to purchase items that can put them in a better position to win each round, but simultaneously, they don’t want to spend too much money as the remaining money of the $25,000 is what they receive if they were to win the game show.
This game show uses the aspect of auctions to add a new element of interest into the show. How players manage their money and how utilizing it within auctions can allow them to win, but can also cost them and lead them to losing the game show. We have reviewed auctions in class, and have seen how a variety of strategies play out within a multitude of different types of auctions. We have discussed the implications of different strategies within auctions, and within this show, we can see the utilization of an ascending bid (English) auction occurring at the beginning of every round. But the question remains whether there is a particular strategy that can help a chef win the show.
Within class, we have discussed the concept of dominant strategy. Dominant strategy refers to the best/optimal move for an individual regardless of how other players in the game act. In the case of the auction here, it refers to the best decision for a chef to make in an auction, regardless of what others bid. However, the question remains how long a chef should remain in an auction in each round. Since every auction in each round is considered an ascending bid auction, the dominant strategy in an ascending bid auction is to stay and continue to bid until your value is reached. However much you value an item in an auction, you should continue to bid up until your value. If the auction bids go over your value, then you pull out of the auction. This strategy allows for chefs to consistently get items they desire and maximize their profit from each item. In this article Ms. Koeck discusses how they were able to come up with strategies for Cutthroat Kitchen contestants by analyzing 75-100 episodes. They were able to find ideal valuations for items in order to chefs to be able to apply their dominant strategy each round.
While it may seem that this dominant strategy is rather simple, in a larger sense it is rather difficult. Although every auction in this show is a simple ascending bid auction, with a rather obvious dominant strategy of bidding to your value, there are other issues to account for. Chef’s have to account for a variety of issues, such as how to value an item, how much it can aid the individual, and how much they should bid in comparison to the money they have left. This is what Ms. Koeck did in her study, by studying and analyzing optimal valuations for chefs on the show. By utilizing various aspects of game theory, she was able to create better game plans for chefs that would allow them to win more money and perform better.
Ultimately, Cutthroat Kitchen is a show that heavily involves auction strategies. By having a dominant strategy of bidding till a chef’s value is reached, a chef is able to get items they truly desire. It is interesting to see how chefs will come up with new strategies to properly evaluate items so that they are able to apply the dominant strategy within these auctions.