Teaching a university course on the mathematics of gambling

TL;DR

This paper compares seven textbooks on the mathematics of gambling to guide course design, focusing on content, level, and suitability for different student interests.

Contribution

It provides an objective analysis of existing textbooks to inform educators on selecting appropriate materials for teaching gambling mathematics.

Findings

Seven textbooks analyzed for content and level

Guidelines for selecting suitable gambling mathematics courses

Comparison based on probability, gambling content, and mathematical difficulty

Abstract

Courses on the mathematics of gambling have been offered by a number of colleges and universities, and for a number of reasons. In the past 15 years, at least seven potential textbooks for such a course have been published. In this article we objectively compare these books for their probability content, their gambling content, and their mathematical level, to see which ones might be most suitable, depending on student interests and abilities. This is not a book review (e.g., none of the books is recommended over others) but rather an essay offering advice about which topics to include in a course on the mathematics of gambling.