The House Always Wins In The Long Run

In statistics, there’s a theorem called the law of large numbers. It teaches you can’t win in the long run at casino games. It’s why casinos always get rich, and the gambler always gets poor. Robert J. Marks and Sal Cordova discuss gambling, statistics, and mathematics.

Show Notes

• 01:06 | Introducing Sal Cordova
• 03:11 | The Famous Team: Claude Shannon and Edward Oakley Thorp
• 06:58 | Is There a Good Way to Cheat in a Casino?
• 14:31 | Shuffle Trackers
• 19:51 | Is There Such a Thing as a Winning Streak?
• 21:27 | Don Johnson the Whale

Additional Resources

• Thorp, Edward. “A favorable strategy for twenty-one.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 47.1 (1961): 110.
• “The Man Who Broke Atlantic City” at The Atlantic (more information about Don Johnson)
• More information about Claude Shannon
• More information about Edward Oakley Thorp