Prisoner's Gambit

The Prisoner's Gambit is a scum gambit that tends to crop up in Dilemma scenarios. Aptly named after the Prisoner's Dilemma from game theory, it is perhaps best explained with an example.

The game state has three players alive - one Townie, one Mafioso, and one Serial Killer. The Townie has no incentive to lynch anyone, and votes No Lynch. The Mafioso knows that they have to kill the Serial Killer this Night, and vice versa.

At this point, one or both of the scum may gambit by offering to shoot the Townie. If both scum shoot the Townie, then they may draw - not as good as a win, but better than a loss. On the other hand, if they both shoot each other, the Townie will win (often unjustifiably given the Town's play if the game got to this point). What is often left unsaid is that if, say, the Mafioso shoots the Townie and the SK shoots the Mafioso, the SK wins outright.

It is mathematically best to always shoot the other scum. But then again, the other scum knows that too, and they're supposed to be aiming at you, so it's probably better to persuade them to shoot the Townie... regardless of what you choose to do in the end.