The Theory of Gambling and Statistical Logic

by Richard A. Epstein

Early in his rise to enlightenment, man invented a concept that has since been variously viewed as a vice, a crime, a business, a pleasure, a type of magic, a disease, a folly, a weakness, a form of sexual substitution, an expression of the human instinct. He invented gambling.Recent advances in the field, particularly Parrondo's paradox, have triggered a surge of interest in the statistical and mathematical theory behind gambling. This interest was acknowledge in the motion picture, "21," inspired by the true story of the MIT students who mastered the art of card counting to reap millions from the Vegas casinos. Richard Epstein's classic book on gambling and its mathematical analysis covers the full range of games from penny matching to blackjack, from Tic-Tac-Toe to the stock market (including Edward Thorp's warrant-hedging analysis). He even considers whether statistical inference can shed light on the study of paranormal phenomena. Epstein is witty and insightful, a pleasure to dip into and read and rewarding to study. The book is written at a fairly sophisticated mathematical level; this is not "Gambling for Dummies" or "How To Beat The Odds Without Really Trying." A background in upper-level undergraduate mathematics is helpful for understanding this work.Comprehensive and exciting analysis of all major casino games and variantsCovers a wide range of interesting topics not covered in other books on the subjectDepth and breadth of its material is unique compared to other books of this natureRichard Epstein's www.gamblingtheory.net

Genres: Mathematics, Finance, Games

466 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Richard Arnold Epstein (March 5, 1927 in Los Angeles, California – July 5, 2016), also known under the pseudonym E.P. Stein , was an American game theorist.

Source: Wikipedia

Reviews

[Justin Yeary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't goign to teach you to become a professional gambler, a master card-counter or a poker pro. if you want to buy the text for that purpose, save your money and look elsewhere. However, what this book IS good for is for giving a concise yet thorough and mathematically rigorous treatment of all sorts of gambles and games of chance. If a game is in a casino, there's probably a chapter on that game in this book. For those with an interest in mathematics and want to see how mathematics is applied to casino gambling and games of chance, this is a great book.

[Tim Clouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

An update of the first edition, that was published in 1967. The second edition adds and subtracts quite a bit of material. Get both if you can, as they complement each other.

Additional Second Edition Errata-- in what is in the book, the formula for Binomial Distribution on page 19 (equation 2-11) should be (p^r)*(p^(n-r)), NOT (p^r)*(p^(n-1)).

[Luiz Costa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A dense but insightful exploration of the math behind gambling. Interesting for theory lovers, but too technical for casual readers.

[p-adic vacation]

The topic and (numerous) examples are great, but it'd be a bit tedious to read through the book. It's like a problem set for financial engineering interview.