a) They are asking you to make up two numbers. There is not right answer.
b) They are asking you to multipy your two numbers from part a)
The 51/49 ratio of house wins and losses has nothing to do wth the question
It saddens me to think that liberal arts majors are able to take a course such as this to demonstrate methematical competence.
Casinos make their money by skimming off the small percentage difference between winning and losing often found in gambling. In this problem, we want to estimate how much a casino make winning 51% of the time, while the patrons win 49% of the time.
a) Estimate the number of people that might come to a given casino on a given day. How much money would they each gamble on average?
b) combine your two estimates from part a to find the total money gambled at the casino on an average day.
3 answers
how would you set the problem up?
The "total money gambled" is just the product of the number of betters and the average amount they bet, as I said. What they may really have been wanting you to provide is the net house winnings, which would, on the average, be 2% (51% - 49%) of the amount gambled.
Strictly speaking, that is not the "skimmings". It is also not the net profit, since there are huge overhead expenses in casinos. Skimming is the practice of underreporting the house profits to avoid taxes, and diverting the money elsewhere. It is strictly illegal.
Strictly speaking, that is not the "skimmings". It is also not the net profit, since there are huge overhead expenses in casinos. Skimming is the practice of underreporting the house profits to avoid taxes, and diverting the money elsewhere. It is strictly illegal.