I don't see the point in games which are pure chance

[peps...@gmail.com]

I'm probably not the first person to have this idea but, because
I see games of 100% chance as being pointless, I like the idea of
introducing the cube into such games. If snakes and ladders had
a doubling cube, there'd be a fair amount of skill in it.

Paul

[Robert Zimmerman]

An interesting idea. Why not?!!
Art Benjamin, a math prof and strong backgammon player, argues that high school students should learn statistics and probability rather than calculus.
(I would add logic and critical thinking.)
https://www.ted.com/talks/arthur_benjamin_teach_statistics_before_calculus?language=en
Bob

[Timothy Chow]

On 3/28/2023 11:23 PM, Robert Zimmerman wrote:
> Art Benjamin, a math prof and strong backgammon player, argues that high school students should learn statistics and probability rather than calculus.

Speaking of Art Benjamin, he recently gave a talk about races in
backgammon.

https://vimeo.com/experimentalmathematics

I haven't listened to it yet, but I plan to. It's geared toward
an audience of mathematicians who might not play backgammon, so
it may not be to the taste of all r.g.b. readers. I've talked
with Art about this topic and read some of his PrimeTime articles,
and my takeaway is that the salient features of his method are:

1. more accurate EPC estimation tricks, and
2. explicitly taking into account variance.

Part 2 may be thought of as an elaboration of the traditional
distinction between "pip-like" positions and "roll-like" positions.

---
Tim Chow

[Axel Reichert]

Timothy Chow <tchow...@yahoo.com> writes:

[Art Benjamin]

> and my takeaway is that the salient features of his method are:
>
> 1. more accurate EPC estimation tricks, and
> 2. explicitly taking into account variance.

I played around with variance distiction a little bit. Looked promising,
but I feared that numerically quantifying it required too much effort,
hence I did not pursue this path any further.

Let me know if my Isight method is mentioned, I have no access to his
video.

Best regards

Axel

[Timothy Chow]

On 3/30/2023 1:01 PM, Axel Reichert wrote:
> Let me know if my Isight method is mentioned, I have no access to his
> video.

He mentions it briefly at the end. I'm surprised to see you say that
you have no access to the video; there's no paywall or anything that
I'm aware of. Here again is the link to the main page:

https://vimeo.com/experimentalmathematics

If that still doesn't work for you, here's the direct Vimeo link.

https://vimeo.com/812646982

---
Tim Chow

[Axel Reichert]

Timothy Chow <tchow...@yahoo.com> writes:

> He mentions it briefly at the end.

This makes me curious.

> I'm surprised to see you say that you have no access to the video

Me too. I get

Video is not rated. Log in to watch.

both for the "channel" and the individual video.

Best regards

Axel

[peps...@gmail.com]

I think it's a semantic point -- you do have access to the video and the
access is acquired by logging in.
What you don't have is LogInFree access.

I don't see the issue with acquiring an account and logging in -- it
takes only 28.314 seconds.

Paul

[Timothy Chow]

On 4/1/2023 7:18 AM, Axel Reichert wrote:
> Video is not rated. Log in to watch.
>
> both for the "channel" and the individual video.

Okay, I think I've found the problem:

"If you don’t rate your public videos, viewers in some countries
(specifically in the UK and EU) will need to log into a Vimeo
account to watch those videos per local regulations."
https://vimeo.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/224818087-Content-ratings

I'll notify the organizers of the Experimental Mathematics
Seminar. I'm sure they'll have no objection to rating their
videos, but I don't know how much effort it is, so I can't
predict how long it will be before the problem gets fixed.

---
Tim Chow

[Timothy Chow]

On 4/1/2023 7:51 AM, peps...@gmail.com wrote:
> I don't see the issue with acquiring an account and logging in -- it
> takes only 28.314 seconds.

I hate that sort of thing myself. Every time you create an account,
you have to create a password, which hackers might steal. If you
use the same password (or variants of the same password) for multiple
accounts then you risk exposing those accounts. If you use strong
passwords and different passwords for each account, then you have to
find some way to manage them. If you use a password manager then you
have to trust the password manager. Etc.

Passwords aside, creating an account usually means another way you
can be tracked online. It probably also means more spam. Again there
are ways of mitigating these problems, but they take more than
28.314 seconds.

---
Tim Chow

[Axel Reichert]

Timothy Chow <tchow...@yahoo.com> writes:

> I'll notify the organizers of the Experimental Mathematics
> Seminar. I'm sure they'll have no objection to rating their
> videos

Many thanks, much appreciated.

Best regards

Axel

[Axel Reichert]

Timothy Chow <tchow...@yahoo.com> writes:

> I'll notify the organizers of the Experimental Mathematics
> Seminar. I'm sure they'll have no objection to rating their
> videos, but I don't know how much effort it is, so I can't
> predict how long it will be before the problem gets fixed.

Works now, thanks for your help.

Unfortunate, Arthur rushes through the last (and for me probably most
interesting) slides, so maybe I should ask him for his (otherwise great)
presentation.

Best regards

Axel