A payoff is the number assigned to a player's outcome at a strategy profile, with larger numbers preferred. In the usual expected utility model, expected payoffs are probability-weighted averages of these numbers. If a payoff is specified as money and a player has preferences involving risk, first apply the relevant utility function; maximizing expected money assumes risk neutrality. In a two-player zero-sum game, one player's payoff is the negative of the other's. General bimatrix games instead require a payoff matrix for each player.
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