Syllabus.  
Statistics 19: Poker and Probability, Prof. Rick Paik Schoenberg. <br><br>

Lectures:  Mon 9am, Math-Science 3915a.<br><br>

Texts:<br> 1. Ross, Sheldon M. (1998). "A First Course in Probability", 5th ed. 
Prentice Hall, NJ.<br>
2. Ferguson, T.S., Shapley, L.S., and Macqueen, J.B., editors (1996). 
"Statistics, Probability and Game Theory : Papers in Honor of David 
Blackwell," Institute of Mathematical Statistics Lecture Notes v. 30. 
Institute of Mathematical Statistics, Hayward.<br>
3. David, F.N. (1962). "Games, Gods and Gambling : the Origins and History 
of Probability and Statistical Ideas from the Earliest Times to the Newtonian 
Era." Griffin, London.<br><br>

Office hours:  Mondays, 10-11am, MS 8965.<br><br>

email:  frederic@stat.ucla.edu<br><br>

Course webpage:  <a href="http://www.stat.ucla.edu/~frederic/19/F05">
http://www.stat.ucla.edu/~frederic/19/F05 </a><br><br>

This seminar will explore the fundamental concepts of elementary probability 
theory and statistics, which are useful in a very wide variety of scientific 
applications. Students will learn the basic foundations of probability, including 
the axioms of probability, the addition and multiplication rules, conditional 
probability, expected values, and combinatorics. In addition, we will discuss 
important statistical concepts such as the standard deviation, the law of large 
numbers, the central limit theorem, simulation, standard errors, and confidence 
intervals. All of these topics, which are broadly applicable in the sciences, will 
be motivated by examples of situations and concepts that arise naturally when 
playing Texas Hold'em, a game of strategy and chance whose complexity is 
surprising and whose popularity is rapidly increasing.
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