Merry and Mich play a card game. In the beginning of the game they have an equal number of cards. Each player, at her turn, gives the other a third of her cards. Mich plays first, giving Merry a third of her cards. Merry plays next, and Mich follows. Then the game ends. Merry ended up with 14 more cards than Mich. How many cards did each player have originally? Choose the correct choice from the following:  A) 60  B) 58  C) 56  D) 55  E) 54
Game Mich Merry   Initially 54 54 assume   After game 1 36 72   After game 2 60 48   After game 3 40 68   Now Merry has 28 cards more than Mich. This option gives us exactly what number of cards they had initially.   So the answer is 54
<result>E</result>
Merry and Mich play a card game. In the beginning of the game they have an equal number of cards. Each player, at her turn, gives the other a third of her cards. Mich plays first, giving Merry a third of her cards. Merry plays next, and Mich follows. Then the game ends. Merry ended up with 14 more cards than Mich. How many cards did each player have originally?