I.D.E.A.S. ACADEMY CASINO NIGHT
Paradigm Annex
Tuesday, April 28th
5:30-7:00
Free and Open to the Public 

This tuesday, April 28, 2015, enjoy an evening of entertainment and casino games presented by the Explorations into Abstract Thought math class of I.D.E.A.S. Academy! All casino games presented were developed by these students as they explored concepts of combinatorics and probability as well as their relation to the gambling industry. All games are free to play and prizes will be awarded to those who win the most "I.D.E.A.S. Bucks"

To begin this project, students investigated a number of different traditional casino games (most notably a rowdy class period playing roulette) and how casinos use probability to ensure a profit, marking payouts below the probability of winning. From their, students spent time developing a number of different skills, working through real life problems involving the fundamental counting principle, permutations, combinations, and probability of single, dependent and independent events. These problems were often linked to the casino games mentioned before ("How many ways can you get a straight in poker? What are the chances I will win the lottery?"). From their, students began to develop their own games, either tweaking the rules of existing games or developing their own game entirely from scratch. Once these rules were in place, students found the probability of winning and used this information to decide on the payouts for their games in order to ensure profitability. These games were play tested in class so students could receive feedback from their peers and improve their games before going public.