Do You Understand Math?

[o48o]

Who remembers this old line- the lottery is a tax on people who don't understand math. Let's shift from the lottery and talk about gambling. In gambling do you think that your understanding of math would make you better at gambling. Not necessarily by making you hit the jackpot, but in winning moderately, gambling responsibly, and in choosing strategies for games like poker or blackjack, over games of pure chance like slots or roulette? And now, back to the lottery quote, do you agree?

It's not really about understanding it, even though it helps. Because we can understand something in paper, but we don't emotionally grasp it. Pyhologically grasping large numbers is not coded into our brains, because that wasn't an essential skill for our evolutionary growth. We understand small groups better and can have emotional connection to them, which makes small groups more real, then if we would need to understand hundred and above humans for example. But million for example is just too abstract for us, no matter if we are talking about objects or changes.

I know we can pretend we understand it, and in theory we do, but our brains never feel it as anything bigger then mid size groups. It helps when we put large numbers and probabilities in a context, but that context can only give us glimpses of reality.

[Hispo]

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🍑

 And now, back to the lottery quote, do you agree?

I partially agree, because in the end there will be at least one people who does not understand math at all, and yet they decided to partake in lottery and hit the jackpot.
I consider myself to be a person who has a good perception on math, I went to college and had to approve some courses on mathematics and laws of statistics. That being said, I prefer gambling and play casino games and sportbetting instead playing lottery, since there are more chances for me to have control of the numbers and the percentage of profit is moderate. In lotteries the percentages to hit the prize are microscopic but the rewards are giant...
It is an issue of personal preferences and when suits the gambler.

I could be wrong, but even if more people had knowledge of the laws of statistics, there would still try to play lottery, but with less frequency, specially if we talk about populations in developing countries where unfortunately there are more people seeking for money.

[iv4n]

the lottery is a tax on people who don't understand math.

I think we can say that casinos work based on math and probability, but it's nothing new... the odds are against us in many games, and just in some, we are +ev. But it doesn't mean much without luck, as always it's a very important factor in gambling.

I understand math, 2+2 equals 4, just like nothing x nothing equals nothing. Math is important, but when it comes to gambling I am sure that most of us just test our luck and hope for the best, it's like that when the games of choice are slots or some in-house games.

So math can be helpful, but if I need to choose between math and luck I would choose luck definitely. It's better to be lucky than to know math.

[Pandu Geddon]

So math can be helpful, but if I need to choose between math and luck I would choose luck definitely. It's better to be lucky than to know math.

somehow I agree with what you say. others may say knowledge and probability of Math can help one's gambling. In this case the odds calculations taught in Mat may be useful, but not many will rely on them in gambling.
more gamblers and perhaps including me will rely more on testing luck. Even though it is an uncertainty, can Math calculations also provide certainty of victory? There is an additional factor that greatly influences the outcome of gambling, and I'm sure all gamblers are aware of it, that is luck.