Coin flipping game probability

Question

I have a 2 sided fair penny, if I flip heads 4 times in a row I win 10 dollars but it costs 1 dollar to play, should I play the game?

Is the answer no because $(10/2^4)-1$ is negative? 

Answer 1

Your win/lose analysis goes like this:

Win probability is (0.5)^4 and you'll have $10

Lose probability is 1-(0.5)^4 and it costs you $4

So your expected value goes like this:

(10*0.0625) + (-4*0.9375) = -3.125

To put it in plain English, you will lose, on average, $3.125 for every $4 you will invest so if you came with a $400 to play 100 games, you will likely to leave with $87.5.