SMS scnews item created by Rafal Kulik at Mon 20 Aug 2007 1147
Type: Seminar
Distribution: World
Expiry: 24 Aug 2007
Calendar1: 24 Aug 2007 1405-1455
CalLoc1: Carslaw 373
Auth: rkuli(.ststaff;2434.3001)@p818.pc.maths.usyd.edu.au

Statistics Seminar: Huang -- Games, Sports, Statistics and Probability



Games, Sports, Statistics and Probability

Alan Huang

Friday, 24 August, 2007, 2pm Carslaw 373

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The time
taken just to roll dice consumes much of the total time taken to play a game of "Snakes
and Ladders".  We will show how simple probability can be used to (fairly) determine the
outcome of a game in a single instance, thus not only saving a lot of time but also
ruining the anticipation and excitement of any game involving dice.  After that, we will
show how Markov Chains can be found in card shuffling and introduce some useful tools to
analyse randomness in a deck of cards.  Finally, time permitting, we will move on to
sports and see how statistical models can be formulated to predict whether the team you
love will come last or second last next year*.

This talk will be aimed at honours and advanced undergraduate students.  It will not
contain any new research.

*assuming you are a Penrith or Newcastle fan
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