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What gambling problem led Pierre de Fermat and Blaise Pascal to study probability?

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French philosopher Blaise Pascal — Blaise Pascal Blaise Pascal, oil painting by an anonymous artist, c. 1650; in the Musée Carnavalet–Histoire de Paris, Paris. Pascal laid the foundation for probability theory.

The study of probability by Blaise Pascal and Pierre de Fermat was prompted by a problem regarding the fair division of stakes in an interrupted game of chance.1

This inquiry was proposed to them by the Chevalier de Méré, a philosophical gambler. The specific problem involved two players who had wagered equal amounts on a game that required a certain number of points to win. If the game were interrupted before either player reached the target score, the mathematicians were asked to determine how the total stakes should be divided between the players based on their current scores and the likelihood of winning the remaining rounds.1

Pascal and Fermat exchanged letters in 1654 to solve this challenge, with their correspondence effectively establishing the foundations of modern probability theory.12