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Full-Text Articles in Statistics and Probability
Snackjack: A Toy Model Of Blackjack, Stewart N. Ethier, Jiyeon Lee
Snackjack: A Toy Model Of Blackjack, Stewart N. Ethier, Jiyeon Lee
UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal
Snackjack is a highly simplified version of blackjack that was proposed by Ethier (2010) and given its name by Epstein (2013). The eight-card deck comprises two aces, two deuces, and four treys, with aces having value either 1 or 4, and deuces and treys having values 2 and 3, respectively. The target total is 7 (vs. 21 in blackjack), and ace-trey is a natural. The dealer stands on 6 and 7, including soft totals, and otherwise hits. The player can stand, hit, double, or split, but split pairs receive only one card per paircard (like split aces in blackjack), and …
Teaching A University Course On The Mathematics Of Gambling, Stewart N. Ethier, Fred M. Hoppe
Teaching A University Course On The Mathematics Of Gambling, Stewart N. Ethier, Fred M. Hoppe
UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal
Courses on the mathematics of gambling have been offered by a number of colleges and universities, and for a number of reasons. In the past 15 years, at least seven potential textbooks for such a course have been published. In this article we objectively compare these books for their probability content, their gambling content, and their mathematical level, to see which ones might be most suitable, depending on student interests and abilities. This is not a book review (e.g., none of the books is recommended over others) but rather an essay offering advice about which topics to include in a …
Pair-A-Dice Lost: Experiments In Dice Control, Robert H. Scott Iii, Donald R. Smith
Pair-A-Dice Lost: Experiments In Dice Control, Robert H. Scott Iii, Donald R. Smith
UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal
This paper presents our findings from experiments designed to test whether we could use a custom-made dice throwing machine applying common dice control methods to produce dice rolls that differ from random. In earlier research we calculated the percentages of control a craps player needs to break even or beat the house (Smith and Scott, 2018). Using the most common practices of dice control in craps, we established how dice should be configured (i.e., set) and thrown to achieve certain outcomes such as not rolling a seven in the point cycle. We decided to run experiments to see if a …