Probability Guide to Gambling: The Mathematics of Dice, Slots, Roulette, Baccarat, Blackjack, Poker, Lottery and Sport Bets

by Catalin Barboianu

Overview

Over the past two decades, gamblers have begun taking mathematics into account more seriously than ever before. While probability theory is the only rigorous theory modeling the uncertainty, even though in idealized conditions, numerical probabilities are viewed not only as mere mathematical information, but also as a decision-making criterion, especially in gambling. This book presents the mathematics underlying the major games of chance and provides a precise account of the odds associated with all gaming events. It begins by explaining in simple terms the meaning of the concept of probability for the layman and goes on to become an enlightening journey through the mathematics of chance, randomness and risk. It then continues with the basics of discrete probability (definitions, properties, theorems and calculus formulas), combinatorics and counting arguments for those interested in the supporting mathematics. These mathematic sections may be skipped by readers who do not have a minimal background in mathematics; these readers can skip directly to the "Guide to Numerical Results" to pick the odds and recommendations they need for the desired gaming situation. Doing so is possible due to the organization of that chapter, in which the results are listed at the end of each section, mostly in the form of tables. The chapter titled "The Mathematics of Games of Chance" presents these games not only as a good application field for probability theory, but also in terms of human actions where probability-based strategies can be tried to achieve favorable results. Through suggestive examples, the reader can see what are the experiments, events and probability fields in games of chance and how probability calculus works there. The main portion of this work is a collection of probability results for each type of game. Each game's section is packed with formulas and tables. Each section also contains a description of the game, a classification of the gaming events and the applicable probability calculations. The primary goal of this work is to allow the reader to quickly find the odds for a specific gaming situation, in order to improve his or her betting/gaming decisions. Every type of gaming event is tabulated in a logical, consistent and comprehensive manner. The complete methodology and complete or partial calculations are shown to teach players how to calculate probability for any situation, for every stage of the game for any game. Here, readers can find the real odds, returned by precise mathematical formulas and not by partial simulations that most software uses. Collections of odds are presented, as well as strategic recommendations based on those odds, where necessary, for each type of gaming situation. The book contains much new and original material that has not been published previously and provides great coverage of probabilities for the following games of chance: Dice, Slots, Roulette, Baccarat, Blackjack, Texas Hold'em Poker, Lottery and Sport Bets. Most of games of chance are predisposed to probability-based decisions. This is why the approach is not an exclusively statistical one (like many other titles published on this subject), but analytical: every gaming event is taken as an individual applied probability problem to solve. A special chapter defines the probability-based strategy and mathematically shows why such strategy is theoretically optimal.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789738752030
Publisher:	Infarom Publishing
Publication date:	08/26/2006
Pages:	296
Sales rank:	440,592
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Catalin Barboianu (born in 1968, in Craiova, Romania) is a mathematician and author. He graduated Faculty of Mathematics, at University of Bucharest, in 1992, with a master degree in Probability and Mathematical Statistics. He studied under great scientific names like Solomon Marcus, Constantin Craciun and Ion Cuculescu. He worked early in his career on topology, mathematical analysis, probability theory, mathematical modeling and also on philosophy of mathematics. However, his most important contribution was on decision theory, placing the concept of probability-based strategy onto a firm mathematical foundation. From 2001, his fields of expertise moved to applied mathematics, especially on applications of probability theory in daily life. Since 2003, his work focused on application of probability theory in gaming. His books have a guide style and primly address to non-mathematicians. He also published several articles on leading academic and gaming industry as well and became a recognized authority on mathematics of games and gambling. Barboianu's major concept of approaching mathematics of gambling is to frame each application into a solid probability model and work out compact formulas that return numerical results for a large range of variables, covering each gaming situation. Therefore, his approach is not an exclusively statistical one (like many other titles published on this subject), but analytical. He is a declared opposer of the publications offering probability results based on partial simulations on computer and prefer to work out precise probability formulas, even this requires a significantly higher amount of work.