Monday March 19, 2012
Don Johnson, the gambler not the actor, has taken three casinos- big time. He negotiated the odds in his favor. This is a fascinating article. Winning in any game is a matter of playing when the odds favor your participation. My investment blog seeks to do this by entering the market when the vast majority of stocks have osted new lows. The idea is that the chance of further downside is minimized.
While statistics is a required class in business, frankly once you leave the statistics class you are not likely to hear much about it again. Most professors are not much more interested in stat than the students. After I walked out of my Stat 332 final exam at UT so many years ago, I don't recall anothe professor ever referring to the use of statistics.
As you will read in the article, that is not the cas for casinos. The first hour of the movie Casino does agood job of explaining how one runs a casino. In that movie, based ona true story, DeNiro plays a professional odds maker hired to run the casino.
As you read the article note that Johnson would only play once he negotiated the casinos into a situation that favored his playing.
Whether you are running a computer company, a college, or a casino, or interviewing for a job, the odds need to be in your favor.
This article is a must read.
The recent film, Moneyball, also features statistical analysis of the record of baseball players. A minor league manager discovered stats that would uncover statistically advantaged players.
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