Calculated Bets: Computers, Gambling, and Mathematical Modeling to Win

ISBN-13: 9780521009621 / Angielski / Miękka / 2001 / 252 str.

Steven S. Skiena; Ronald Graham; John Barrow

Opis

Calculated Bets describes a gambling system that works. Steven Skiena, a jai-alai enthusiast and computer scientist, documents how he used computer simulations and modeling techniques to predict the outcome of jai-alai matches and increased his initial stake by 544% in one year. Skiena demonstrates how his jai-alai system functions like a stock trading system, and includes examples of how gambling and mathematics interact in program trading systems, how mathematical models are used in political polling, and what the future holds for Internet gambling. With humor and enthusiasm, Skiena explains computer predictions used in business, sports, and politics, and the difference between correlation and causation. An unusual presentation of how mathematical models are designed, built, and validated, Calculated Bets also includes a list of modeling projects with online data sources. Steven Skiena, Associate Professor of Computer Science at SUNY Stony Brook, is the author of The Algorithm Design Manual (Springer-Verlag, 1997) and the EDUCOM award-winning Computational Discrete Mathematics. He is the recipient of the ONR Young Investigator's Award and the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching at Stony Brook. His research interests include discrete mathematics and its applications, particularly the design of graph, string, and geometric algorithms.

Recenzje

'Stephen Skiena has a rare gift: … Charmingly self-depreciative, Skiena suggests early on in Calculated Bets he's just a 'mild mannered professor', noting that 'part of the fun' of the title 'is the spectacle of a second-rate mind wasting itself on jai alai'… Concerns for the future of gambling aside, Calculated Bets is an eloquent exercise in prose and effortlessly teaches the less mathematically minded amongst us how computing can be innovative and interesting. It also offers a unique tale of how one man, along with the help of a few friends, can get to grips with betting and beat the bookmakers. It's for these reasons and so many more that we strongly recommend Calculated Bets.' www.casinoonline.co.uk

Spis treści

Preface; Acknowledgements; 1. The making of a gambler; 2. What is Jai Alai?; 3. Monte Carlo on the Tundra; 4. The impact of the internet; 5. Is this bum any good?; 6. Modeling the payoffs; 7. Engineering the system; 8. Putting my money where my mouth is; 9. How should you bet?; 10. Projects to ponder; Glossary; For further reading; Index.