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counting and probability intermediate

Problem

In a single-elimination tournament, each game is between two players. Only the winner of each game advances to the next round. In a particular such tournament there are 256 players. How many individual games must be played to determine the champion?
Solution
A total of 255 players must be eliminated to determine the champion, and one player is eliminated after each game, so it is easy to see that games must be played.
Final answer
255