Early in his rise to enlightenment, man invented a concept that has since been variously viewed as a vice, a crime, a business, a pleasure, a type of magic, a disease, a folly, a weakness, a form of sexual substitution, an expression of the human instinct. He invented gambling. Recent advances in the field, particularly Parrondo's paradox, have triggered a surge of interest in the statistical and mathematical theory behind gambling. This interest was acknowledge in the motion picture, "21," inspired by the true story of the MIT students who mastered the art of card counting to reap millions from the Vegas casinos. Richard Epstein's classic book on gambling and its mathematical analysis covers the full range of games from penny matching to blackjack, from Tic-Tac-Toe to the stock market (including Edward Thorp's warrant-hedging analysis). He even considers whether statistical inference can shed light on the study of paranormal phenomena. Epstein is witty and insightful, a pleasure to dip into and read and rewarding to study. The book is written at a fairly sophisticated mathematical level; this is not "Gambling for Dummies" or "How To Beat The Odds Without Really Trying." A background in upper-level undergraduate mathematics is helpful for understanding this work. - Comprehensive and exciting analysis of all major casino games and variants - Covers a wide range of interesting topics not covered in other books on the subject - Depth and breadth of its material is unique compared to other books of this nature - Richard Epstein's website: www.gamblingtheory.net

A comprehensive survey of computational aspects of collective decisions for graduate students, researchers, and professionals in computer science and economics.

Global popular culture and big business have revolutionised the East in a generation. Football, Sport of the masses and now commercial super power, has travelled with this tide of change in the East in its own right. The development of football as a major participatory sport in Japan, Korea and China makes it an ideal case study for analysis of the complex relationship between sport, culture, society and economy in the East. Football is also a useful entry point for examination of the phenomena of increasing globalisation, and this theme is widely discussed. This broad ranging collection of essays includes: - Social change and national identity - Women's football and gender traditions - Finance and investment in football - The development of professional football - Football and the media - Football Fans, 'hooligans' and soccer supporter culture

This book is designed to function as an instruction manual for the organization and administration of physical education and recreation activities. It is a comprehensive guide for a balanced program. It contains functional material for the physical education teacher in the elementary school and for the leader of a summer playground program. There are five similar, but different, programs outlined. The teacher's or the leader's own initiative and ability will determine the success of the program. It is much better to overplan than to underplan. Thus more weekly and daily activities are planned here than could be used time-wise. By "overplanning" I have given the teacher or the leader the choice of activities best adapted to his school or playground.-Preface

“From Six-on-Six to Full Court Press is a complete history of Iowa women’s high school, college, and recreational basketball. Beran’s exhaustive research . . . covers legendary players and coaches, changes in rules, stats on Iowa girls’ high school records, alterations in playing styles and uniforms, along with the heart-stopping excitement of the state tournament.”—Hoop Source