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The mathematics of games and gambling

You can't lose with this MAA Book Prize winner if you want to see how mathematics can be used to analyze games of chance and skill. Roulette, craps, blackjack, backgammon, poker, bridge, lotteries and horse races are considered here in a way that reveals their mathematical aspects. The tools used include probability, expectation, and game theory. No prerequisites are needed beyond high school algebra. No book can guarantee good luck, but this book will show you what determines the best bet in a game of chance or the optimal strategy in a strategic game. Besides being an excellent supplement to a course on probability and good bed-side reading, this book's treatment of lotteries should save the reader some money.

The mathematics of games and gambling

The new edition of a favourite which introduces and develops some of the important and beautiful elementary mathematics needed for rational analysis of various gambling and game activities. Most of the standard casino games (roulette, craps, blackjack, keno), some social games (backgammon, poker, bridge) and various other activities (state lotteries, horse racing) are treated in ways that bring out their mathematical aspects. The mathematics developed ranges from the predictable concepts of probability, expectation, and binomial coefficients to some less well-known ideas of elementary game theory. The second edition includes new material on: * Sports betting and the mathematics behind it * Game theory applied to bluffing in poker and related to the 'Texas Holdem phenomenon' * The Nash equilibrium concept and its emergence in popular culture * Internet links to games and Java applets for practice and classroom use. Game-related exercises are included and solutions to some appear at the end of the book.

Online American Mathematical Society

Gaming and gambling law : cases and materials