Dynamics of Gambling: Origins of Randomness in Mechanical Systems - Paperback

by Jaroslaw Strzalko (Author), Juliusz Grabski (Author), Przemyslaw Perlikowski (Author)

Our everyday life is in?uenced by many unexpected (dif?cult to predict) events usually referred as a chance. Probably, we all are as we are due to the accumulation point of a multitude of chance events. Gambling games that have been known to human beings nearly from the beginning of our civilization are based on chance events. These chance events have created the dream that everybody can easily become rich. This pursuit made gambling so popular. This book is devoted to the dynamics of the mechanical randomizers and we try to solve the problem why mechanical device (roulette) or a rigid body (a coin or a die) operating in the way described by the laws of classical mechanics can behave in such a way and produce a pseudorandom outcome. During mathematical lessons in primary school we are taught that the outcome of the coin tossing experiment is random and that the probability that the tossed coin lands heads (tails) up is equal to 1/2. Approximately, at the same time during physics lessons we are told that the motion of the rigid body (coin is an example of suchabody)isfullydeterministic. Typically, studentsarenotgiventheanswertothe question Why this duality in the interpretation of the simple mechanical experiment is possible? Trying to answer this question we describe the dynamics of the gambling games based on the coin toss, the throw of the die, and the roulette run

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This monograph presents a concise discussion of the dynamics of mechanical randomizers (coin tossing, die throw and roulette). The authors derive the equations of motion, also describing collisions and body contacts. It is shown and emphasized that, from the dynamical point of view, outcomes are predictable, i.e. if an experienced player can reproduce initial conditions with a small finite uncertainty, there is a good chance that the desired final state will be obtained. Finally, readers learn why mechanical randomizers can approximate random processes and benefit from a discussion of the nature of randomness in mechanical systems. In summary, the book not only provides a general analysis of random effects in mechanical (engineering) systems, but addresses deep questions concerning the nature of randomness, and gives potentially useful tips for gamblers and the gaming industry.