Betting Game

Jack’s a star player on an elite soccer team along with his brother, Alex. The Lancers are on top of the league, even favored to win the National Championship. But the game’s about to change. A slick bookie wins Jack’s friendship and introduces him to illegal betting. Before long, Jack is hooked on the adrenaline rush, and early wins convince him that gambling could make him rich. Meanwhile, an ever-widening rift is forming between the two brothers. Suddenly, Jack’s “system” fails and his luck runs out. How could a few losses pile up to a gut-kicking ten grand? When he can’t pay, the bookie gives Jack one way out—throw the National Championship. But can he betray his brother, his team and himself?

In this high-interest sports novel, a star player on an elite soccer team is forced to make tough choices when illegal gambling gets him in way over his head.

Casino games and traditional card games have rich and idiosyncratic histories, complex subcultures and player practices, and facilitate the flow of billions of dollars each year through casinos and card rooms, and between professional players and amateurs. They have nevertheless been overlooked by game scholars due to the negative ethical weight of “gambling” – with such games pathologized and labelled as deviance or mental illness, few look beyond to unpick the games, their players, and their communities. The Casino, Card and Betting Game Reader offers 25 chapters studying the communities playing these games, the distinctive cultures and practices that have emerged around them, their activities and beliefs and interpersonal relationships, and how these games influence – both positively and negatively – the lives and careers of millions of game players around the world. It is the first of a new series of edited collections, Play Beyond the Computer, dedicated to exploring the play of games beyond computers and games consoles.

Net and Gross . . . Nassau . . . the Hawk . . . Amigo . . . the Train Game . . . Second Ball . . . the Umbrella Game . . . What does it all mean? Recreational golfers around the world thrive on games within games as a way to enhance the golf experience, level the playing field, and, most important, have a lot more fun. Golf Digest’s Complete Book of Golf Betting Games lays it all out—every game, every format, and every variation—with a quick-reference glossary of every golf gambling term ever uttered. Organized by chapters for twosomes, threesomes, foursomes, or buddy trips with all the side games, each section is simple to navigate, with helpful strategy tips for each game and a set of clear-cut scorecard instructions

Gambling is a significant global industry, which is worth around 0.6% of world trade, that is, around US$ 384 billion; and gambling on the outcome of sports events is a very popular pastime for millions of people around the world, who combine a bet with watching and enjoying their favourite sports. But, like any other human activity, sports betting is open to corruption and improper influence from unscrupulous sports persons, bookmakers and others. Sports betting in the last ten years or so has developed and changed quite fundamentally with the advent of modern technology – not least the omnipresence of the Internet and the rise of on-line sports betting. This book covers the law and policy on sports betting in more than forty countries around the world whose economic and social development, history and culture are quite different. Several chapters deal with the United States of America. This book also includes a review of sports betting under European Union (EU) Law. The book appears in the ASSER International Sports Law Series, under the editorship of Dr. Robert Siekmann, Dr. Janwillem Soek and Marco van der Harst LL.M.

Publisher Description

Many experiments have shown the human brain generally has very serious problems dealing with probability and chance. A greater understanding of probability can help develop the intuition necessary to approach risk with the ability to make more informed (and better) decisions. The first four chapters offer the standard content for an introductory probability course, albeit presented in a much different way and order. The chapters afterward include some discussion of different games, different "ideas" that relate to the law of large numbers, and many more mathematical topics not typically seen in such a book. The use of games is meant to make the book (and course) feel like fun! Since many of the early games discussed are casino games, the study of those games, along with an understanding of the material in later chapters, should remind you that gambling is a bad idea; you should think of placing bets in a casino as paying for entertainment. Winning can, obviously, be a fun reward, but should not ever be expected. Changes for the Second Edition: New chapter on Game Theory New chapter on Sports Mathematics The chapter on Blackjack, which was Chapter 4 in the first edition, appears later in the book. Reorganization has been done to improve the flow of topics and learning. New sections on Arkham Horror, Uno, and Scrabble have been added. Even more exercises were added! The goal for this textbook is to complement the inquiry-based learning movement. In my mind, concepts and ideas will stick with the reader more when they are motivated in an interesting way. Here, we use questions about various games (not just casino games) to motivate the mathematics, and I would say that the writing emphasizes a "just-in-time" mathematics approach. Topics are presented mathematically as questions about the games themselves are posed. Table of Contents Preface 1. Mathematics and Probability 2. Roulette and Craps: Expected Value 3. Counting: Poker Hands 4. More Dice: Counting and Combinations, and Statistics 5. Game Theory: Poker Bluffing and Other Games 6. Probability/Stochastic Matrices: Board Game Movement 7. Sports Mathematics: Probability Meets Athletics 8. Blackjack: Previous Methods Revisited 9. A Mix of Other Games 10. Betting Systems: Can You Beat the System? 11. Potpourri: Assorted Adventures in Probability Appendices Tables Answers and Selected Solutions Bibliography Biography Dr. David G. Taylor is a professor of mathematics and an associate dean for academic affairs at Roanoke College in southwest Virginia. He attended Lebanon Valley College for his B.S. in computer science and mathematics and went to the University of Virginia for his Ph.D. While his graduate school focus was on studying infinite dimensional Lie algebras, he started studying the mathematics of various games in order to have a more undergraduate-friendly research agenda. Work done with two Roanoke College students, Heather Cook and Jonathan Marino, appears in this book! Currently he owns over 100 different board games and enjoys using probability in his decision-making while playing most of those games. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, cooking, coding, playing his board games, and spending time with his six-year-old dog Lilly.