Mathematics of Keno and Lotteries

Mark Bollman is Professor of Mathematics and chair of the Department of Mathematics & Computer Science at Albion College in Albion, Michigan, and has taught 111 different courses in his career. Among these courses is "Mathematics of the Gaming Industry," where mathematics majors carefully study the math behind games of chance and travel to Las Vegas, Nevada, in order to compare theory and practice. He has also taken those ideas into Albion's Honors Program in "Great Issues in Humanities: Perspectives on Gambling," which considers gambling from literary, philosophical, and historical points of view as well as mathematically. Mark’s previous book is Basic Gambling Mathematics: The Numbers behind The Neon.

Chapter 1. Historical Background. 1.1 History of. 1.2 History of Lotteries. Chapter 2. Mathematical Foundations. 2.1 Elementary Probability. 2.2 Addition Rules. 2.3 Conditional Probability. 2.4 Random Variables and Expected Value. 2.5 Combinatorics. 2.6 Binomial Distribution. Chapter 3. Keno. 3.1 Standard Keno Wagers. 3.2 Game Variations. 3.3 The Big Picture. 3.4 Video Keno. 3.5 Keno Side Bets. 3.6 Keno Strategies: Do They Work?. Chapter 4. Lotteries. 4.2 Passive Lottery Tickets. 4.3 Lotto Games. 4.4 Games Where Order Matters. 4.5 Powerball. 4.6 Lotto Strategies: Do They Work?