When drawing straws, are you more likely to get the short straw if you pick first, or after several people have already picked?

Question

When drawing straws, are you more likely to get the short straw if you pick first, or after several people have already picked?

In: Mathematics

Answer 1

Neither, if it is a fair game (truly random, no cheating) each player has the same chance.

More info from a quick search:
Say you’ve got N peeps (people). The first person to draw a straw is the least likely to draw the short one (1/N) and the last to draw is the most likely (1/2). However! While the later people are more likely to draw the short straw, they’re also less likely to pull any straw since it’s more likely that the short straw has already been drawn. In movies they almost always draw every straw because of drama, but in practice, you draw until the short one shows up and then you stop.