Braingle: 'Four Jolly Men' Riddle

Four Jolly Men

Riddles are little poems or phrases that pose a question that needs answering. Riddles frequently rhyme, but this is not a requirement.

Puzzle ID:	#334
Fun:	(2.74)
Difficulty:	(2.33)
Category:	Riddle
Submitted By:	Phyllis
Corrected By:	phildunphy

Four jolly men sat down to play,
and played all night till break of day.
They played for gold and not for fun,
with separate scores for every one.
Yet when they came to square accounts,
they all had made quite fair amounts!
Can you the paradox explain?
If no one lost, how could all gain?

Hint

The answer is in `what` they were playing.
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Comments

ROC4me Jul 11, 2002	Actually they were all gambling, just not playing against each other.
Amjer2911 Mar 07, 2005	Why does the band have to be German?
deadeye823 Apr 10, 2005	dunno
horse_luver Dec 11, 2005	I've heard this one before, but it's still cute.
musicmaker21113 Jan 12, 2006	I thought at first that the four men were playing against 4 women... good answer, though!
keveffect1 Mar 07, 2006	Great teaser
warmonkey318 Mar 26, 2006	I get it!! wooooo me!
puppehs-rulez Mar 26, 2006	Awww... This is the second time I didn't listen to the hint so I got it wrong...
jntrcs Apr 21, 2006	like the beat of that one that's probably my favorite riddle seeing that i despise riddles and math teasers
perrygf Jun 21, 2006	i thought they were playing slot machines. Cute answer, though.
twinklyspangle Oct 07, 2006	I also wondered exactly why they were German Fiddlers. And why were they paid in dollars if they were German? ;) Cute, anyway.
Waka Jan 09, 2011	I guessed they were a band or something of the sort.