This book takes an in-depth look at the 4 biggest table games in casinos: blackjack, baccarat, craps, and roulette. It guides readers through the mathematical principles that underpin these games and provides insights that will be of huge interest to gamblers, casino managers, and students of mathematics.
* A valuable teaching resource, replete with exercises, for any course of gambling mathematics
* Suitable for a wide audience of professionals, researchers and students
* Many practical applications for the gambling industry
This is an extremely well-organized book. It is logically structured, with information that is easy to find.
I think there is [a real need for this book]. These are four very important games that make (and can cost) casinos a lot of money, and they need to be better understood.
There are three major markets for this book: academics, casino managers, and casino players, with a smaller fourth market of game inventors. Academics can use it in courses dealing with casino management (see below). Casino managers will use it to better ground their understanding of the games. I think that Bollman's generous inclusion of historical promotions-some of which lasted only briefly-will be extremely helpful to managers. Casual casino players will like it because it will give them insight into their favourite games, and advantage players will read it to assist with their own strategy and analysis.
- David G. Schwartz, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
After a brief introduction to elementary probability, this book explores many more variations on the big four than I could have imagined to exist, plus numerous side bets. Examples and exercises abound throughout.
- Mathematics Magazine, MAA
Mark Bollman is Professor of Mathematics and chair of the Department of Mathematics & Computer Science at Albion College in Albion, Michigan, and has taught 116 different courses in his career. Among these courses is Mathematics of the Gaming Industry, where mathematics majors carefully study the math behind games of chance and travel to Las Vegas, Nevada, in order to compare theory and practice. He has also taken those ideas into Albion's Honors Program in Great Issues in Humanities: Perspectives on Gambling, which considers gambling from literary, philosophical, and historical points of view as well as mathematically. Mark has also authored Basic Gambling Mathematics: The Numbers behind The Neon, Mathematics of Keno and Lotteries, and Mathematics of Casino Carnival Games.
1. Essential Probability. 1.1. Elementary Ideas. 1.2. Addition and Multiplication Rules. 1.3. Combinatorics. 1.4. Random Variables and Expected Value. 2. Roulette 2.1 Roulette Basics. 2.2. History of Roulette. 2.3. New Wheels. 2.4. Electronic Roulette Games. 2.5. Roulette with Cards. 2.6. Side Bets. 2.7. Roulette Betting Systems. 2.8. Exercises. 3. Craps. 3.1. Craps Basics. 3.2. Hazard. 3.3. Street Craps. 3.4. Crooked Dice. 3.5. Controlled Shooting. 3.6. Variations. 3.7. Card Craps. 3.8. Side Bets. 3.9. Exercises. 4. Baccarat. 4.1. Baccarat Basics. 4.2. Card Counting in Baccarat. 4.3. Variations. 4.4. Side Bets. 4.5. Exercises. 5. Blackjack. 5.1. Blackjack Basics. 5.2. Basic Strategy. 5.3. Card Counting. 5.4. Variations. 5.5. California Games. 5.6. Side Bets. 5.7. Exercises. Answers to Selected Exercises. References.