Mathematics in games sports and gambling gould

Game-related exercises are included at the end of most chapters for readers interested in working with and expanding ideas treated in the text. Solutions to some of the exercises appear at the end of the book. Continue Shopping Checkout. AMS Homepage. Join our email list. Sign up. Access this eBook now! Advanced search. Author s Product display : Edward Packel.

Volume: Publication Month and Year: Copyright Year: Page Count: Cover Type: Softcover. Print ISBN Online ISBN Online ISSN:. Applied Math? MAA Book? Inquiry Based Learning? Gould goes on to give examples of when a player himself should double 50 percent chance of winning or when he wants an opponent to accept a double with a 75 percent chance of winning.

The course is not all fun and games; the material has a deeper meaning. This is the fourth time Gould has taught the class, and he is somewhat minimalist about it. And he tends to focus on material the class appears more interested in.

Still, for the backgammon segment, Gould had to do a little preparation. He brought in a laptop computer so he could teach the game to the students; most were unfamiliar with it. They played against the computer—and lost. Mathematics in sports and games is all well and good, but what about gambling? After all, the entire backgammon segment was about betting.

Is it a very good idea to discuss gambling techniques with freshman? Sure, Gould said. And with good reason. The only casino game the class has investigated in depth so far is roulette, which is set up to favor the house. Players, in fact, through class computation, were found to be at a 5 percent disadvantage.