Syllabus.
Statistics 19: Poker and Probability, Prof. Rick Paik Schoenberg.
Lectures: Mon 3pm, Math-Science 3915a.
Office hours: Mondays, 2-3pm, MS 8965.
email: frederic@stat.ucla.edu
Course webpage:
http://www.stat.ucla.edu/~frederic/19/S06
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.