Most businesses use statistics and analytics to one degree or another, but there is only one industry that is built solely on this discipline. This week we look at the casino business – in particular, the odds on slots. Slot machines are a casino’s best friend. Able to run 24/7 with consistently-sized bets, slots realizeContinue reading “Detecting a Slots Payout Difference of 2%”
Daily Archives: December 2, 2019
Problem of the Week: A betting puzzle
QUESTION: A gambler playing against the “house” in a game like roulette or slots adopts the rule “Play until you win a certain amount, then stop.” Will this ensure against player losses? What will be its effect on the house’s profit? ANSWER: Some look at this rule and figure that it rules out player losses andContinue reading “Problem of the Week: A betting puzzle”
Book Review: Big Data in Practice by Bernard Marr
This short book is essentially an enriched list of 45 examples of how companies have used big data analytics. Marr sticks to high level generalities, and the book is in the spirit of light business journalism rather than detailed expositions that walk you through a successful big data implementation in detail. However, private companies, andContinue reading “Book Review: Big Data in Practice by Bernard Marr “
Dec 6: Statistics in Practice
This week we look at the casino business – in particular, the odds on slots. In our course spotlight, we start looking at some of the great stuff starting in at the beginning of the new year. In January, you can get started with basic statistics or biostatistics, start our certificate program or degree programs in analytics, get introduced to R programming or PythonContinue reading “Dec 6: Statistics in Practice”
Google Zooms Out on Microtargeting
Google recently announced that it would further limit its election ads to audience targeting based on age, gender, and general location (postal code level) context targeting (i.e. showing ads based on the content being viewed) Up to this point, the application of predictive modeling to “microtarget” individuals or small groups of individuals, well-entrenched in theContinue reading “Google Zooms Out on Microtargeting”