How to win TV's Millionaire

Everyone wants a guaranteed way of winning the jackpot on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? that doesn't involve lots of coughing.

Well, there's good news and bad news. The good news is that a couple of Swiss academics have come up with a formula for sure-fire success.

The bad news is that the formula goes like this: pn (j,k) = P {xn+1,s = k / Xn, s = j}, jE kn, kE Kn+1.

Even if you phoned all your friends, asked a dozen audiences and went 50-50 - twice - you'd still be stuck.

And the explanatory notes written by mathematicians Robert Dalang and Violetta Bernyck in their paper, titled How To Win Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, are precious little help.

For instance, to win big a player needs to use the principles of 'stochastic optimisation', say the pair from the ...cole Polytechnique Fèdèrale in Lausanne.

This they show in a series of charts, which apparently tell a player when to answer a question, quit or use a lifeline.

The scientists do caution anyone attempting to win using their formula. 'We should emphasise that there is no guarantee a player will win a large amount of money,' said Mr Dalang.

'There is always a chance he will give an incorrect answer and lose.'

But he added: 'Our strategy does two things: it helps the player decide when to use each lifeline; and it tells him whether it is worth the risk to answer even if he is not completely sure.'

The team worked out the average amount a player can expect to win is £16,000, while the chances of winning a £1million are one in 100.

After suffering a close call when major Charles Ingram won £1million before his coughing con was discovered, TV chiefs are understandably cautious when commenting on this new technique.

'In view of what happened in the past, we do not comment on schemes designed to make people win more on the show - for obvious reasons,' said a spokesman for programme maker Celador.