Should we teach gambling in math classes?
I have always enjoyed teaching probability. You can have fun getting the students to mess around with dice, cards and lottery results. Some students haved no idea what a poker hand even looks like (either they come from a family that never played games with their kids, or the family does not approve of gambling).
So I found myself teaching them about the “mathematical sins” of gambling – that you will never win if you are a player, but a sure winner if you are the organiser of the gambling event.
In Singapore, where there are strong objections to gambling from the Malay and Christian communities, the Toto website has:
Please exit immediately if you are under 18.
But I still felt that my under 18-year-olds should know about gambling, about the odds of not winning and something about the psychology of gambling. I included a section “TOTO Example” about the Singapore game of TOTO.
It was with interest that I cam across this article in the Vancouver Sun, Poker lessons – an education that you could bet on, where the organiser was having some bother (from the authorities) when trying to teach poker.
According to the article, child psychology professor Jeffrey Derevensky of McGill University feels that
already too many kids are gambling and as soon as they’re old enough to get credit cards they’ll be on the Internet betting away money they don’t have.
The following is likely, since governments around the world reap large windfalls from “voluntary taxes”, a.k.a. gambling:
Once the kids learn the real odds of ever winning a government lottery, the chances are they’ll never buy a ticket — which might explain the B.C. government’s vehemence.
I agree with the writer’s conclusion:
Besides, poker’s not just a game, it’s a lesson in math, probability, risk and reading character. In other words, it’s a lesson in life.
So do I gamble? Yep, occasionally and only with peanuts.
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22 Jul 2006 at 7:13 am Link to this comment
[...] squareCircleZ: Should we teach gambling in math classes? [...]
26 Sep 2007 at 6:28 am Link to this comment
Learning about a sin does not mean you will commit it. If anything learning about gambling young and how often the odds are against you winning will deter kids from picking up the habit later. Perhaps since they have already experienced gambling in a classroom setting they won’t feel that they need to ever try it in real life.
27 May 2009 at 4:54 am Link to this comment
We should absolutely teach kids about the real probabilities involved in gambling and the psychology of gambling too. Nobody becomes a gambling addict knowing those two things.
27 May 2009 at 6:31 am Link to this comment
But Reynir, there may be a genetic reason why people become gamblers: Compulsive gambling a genetic disorder?
28 May 2009 at 8:58 pm Link to this comment
Ah, yes. But these represent tendencies, not destinies. For example, if we look at history, we humans seem to have a tendency for constant warring and brutality. But we don’t see nearly as much of that anymore.
Source: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/steven_pinker_on_the_myth_of_violence.html
(you’ve probably seen this already, being a TED fan yourself)
So we do use more than one part of our brain at a given moment. A study of the mistakes of others and a knowledge of our own faults and tendencies can and does enable us to overcome biological determinism.
So I honestly belive that if someone:
A) Truly understands the workings (and the futility) of gambling,
B) understands that there is no such thing as luck (in the “personal mojo” meaning of the word), and
C) is aware of the psychology of gambling and the human fallibility regarding it…
… then that someone will not become addicted to gambling. Assuming a person of relatively sound mind with no major mental defects or insanity.
So I think the prime reason for the widespread problem of gambling is ignorance and quasi-religious belief in “personal lucky mojo”.
24 Sep 2009 at 12:38 am Link to this comment
Children should be taught about gambling. Games of chance give simple models that are useful for illuminating the concepts of probability theory. Indeed, probability theory arose from the analysis of games of chance.
The truth is that we gamble every day of our lives. If we drive to work then we risk dying in a traffic accident, and so on. We need probability to make rational decisions in the face of uncertainty. But we don’t hand out mortality tables to our students. Instead, we use games with cards and dice as metaphors.
24 Sep 2009 at 8:15 am Link to this comment
Actually, Ymir, I’ve discussed mortality tables with students! They actually find them very interesting.