FreeMath.com?

Quote: Paigowdan

What do you think Mike does for a living?

If the math question is easy enough to answer, it should be self-answered. Use Excel or a Ti-xx if you have to.
At least TRY. google and what not are allowed, too.

But if it beyound your time of day to accomplish this, then DO pay others for THEIR time on YOUR problem.
That's fair enough.

I agree with the principle. I remember when I was a student at ITT, and a classmate was struggling with calculus and wanted some extracurricular tutelage. I offered (being an ace student at that level of calulus), but I made it clear that I wanted to be paid (nominally, not really competitively) for the use of my time. You can imagine the flack I got from a couple of other classmates who didn't seem to appreciate the notion of time as property and a non-renewable resource. The company I currently work for on an hourly-pay basis stipulates that my off-the-job "conduct", as well as on-the-clock, has to be such that it doesn't damage their image. But what are they willing to give in exchange for the free "publicity". My time is for my eccentric use, as my spirit of adventure, science, and creativity dictate. Granted, my lifestyle virtually guarantees that it won't practically become an issue; it's the principle of the thing.

Quote: NowTheSerpent

I wanted to be paid (nominally, not really competitively) for the use of my time.

In order to be paid, you have to have a contract with the service recipient a priori and the "job" has to be guaranteed (may even be a money-back grantee or penalty imposed for incorrect answers). In this forum, FREE services bear no responsibility. One could reply to a question of "1+1 =?" with an answer, 5.689% or whatever, with no guilt, nor penalty. Mike, Charles and whoever do math for a living put their reputation on the line and they have re-do the work over and over again if an error has been discovered, until it's right. Well, over here, FreeMath.com is free for any expressions. Recipients of the answers are at their own risk.

Balls.

First off, math questions on this site are a challenge for me to answer, so if I make a remark or spend a day doing a competition, I do it for free. The chi-squared analysis that I did for Clem's betting on BLR I did for free (and I blew off 1/2 a day of work to do it), because I enjoyed doing it and wanted to relearn some statistics from college. I also was genuinely curious on whether the software was indeed cheating or not. I don't expect my work to be paid for, though I was a little bit pissed off that Eliot and the Wizard were quoted in the press though I did a fair bit of the work. They're paid professionals. I am not.

I don't go on to the web sites where questions relating to my work are asked. If someone asks me about the software that I work with, the question gets referred to an official response site (our support site) or my manager who will give the proposed customer a quote to answer the question.

We all have the ability to ELECT to answer anything that we want to, including this post. If someone posts a game idea, and I decide to do the entire math for the game, so be it. I dont' get paid - I take money away from the the math folks - but my answer comes with a risk as I could just be a hack. Heck, someone might hack the passwords on this site, login as Math or the Wizard and post bull. There's no penalty for that.

As for being a "math person", gambling math is really about combinations. It isn't quantum mechanics, relativity, calculus, or advanced algebra. Most of the time, it is a skillset of simple combinations with some simulations to verify the results, all doable within Excel with an understanding of what it all means.

Hell, we talk about just about everything here (including religion, boyfriends, tea parties, gays, etc). So why the proposal to do something different? At least the math questions (even the dumb ones) are related to gambling. I don't get it.

Quote: boymimbo

The chi-squared analysis that I did for Clem's betting on BLR I did for free (and I blew off 1/2 a day of work to do it), because I enjoyed doing it and wanted to relearn some statistics from college. I also was genuinely curious on whether the software was indeed cheating or not.

A couple of years ago on a different site, i debated similar issues with Savant (, whom i became fairly-sure was Sonny from www.blackjack.info.com .) That if one does his homework first, then he likely wouldn't have worry about such things happening to himself. But that if it does regardless, to find another game/vendor earlier than later. Even if you're instincts alone are wrong - things happen - the costs of relocating will always be far-less than "hanging around" to try to prove some such point later, about being cheated (by some faceless entity), eg.

Sometimes, what happens is that we fall into the trap of "make work" for our "hammers", instead of creating new tools for the appropriate work at-hand.

Quote: boymimbo

I don't expect my work to be paid for, though I was a little bit pissed off that Eliot and the Wizard were quoted in the press though I did a fair bit of the work. They're paid professionals. I am not.

Credit for what? Did Clem, himself, ever come back on to that thread to say it was all worth it, blah, blah?

Reminds me of the saying, "The lawyers will end up with it."

Quote: RoyalBJ

In order to be paid, you have to have a contract with the service recipient a priori and the "job" has to be guaranteed

A verbal agreement overheard by others generally qualifies as a contract, but your missing my point: I am a sovereign, autonomous individual whose time = money; I don't have to help anyone else. I am only morally responsible for me and am only legally empowered to cover that responsibility. To bear additional responsibilities would require additional powers - privately through profit; publicly through a grant or mandamus. Our society has suffered economically and morally, I think, partly because not enough people stand up for the principle of "Profit as Morality".

Quote: RoyalBJ

In order to be paid, you have to have a contract with the service recipient a priori and the "job" has to be guaranteed

A verbal agreement overheard by others generally qualifies as a contract, but your missing my point: I am a sovereign, autonomous individual whose time = money; I don't have to help anyone else. I am only morally responsible for me and am only legally empowered to cover that responsibility. To bear additional responsibilities would require additional powers - privately through profit; publicly through a grant or mandamus. Our society has suffered economically and morally, I think, partly because not enough people stand up for the principle of "Profit as Morality". Sorry for the dup. I tapped "enter" twice, I think.

Quote: Paigowdan

Well, I am a real math person.
1. My math on the design of EZ Pai Gow, Hong Kong Poker and Pai Gow-8 were flawless and spot-on, and were verified by Charles Mousseau.

Is this your Hong Kong Poker™?
An 8-card poker-game with each player aiming to make the best 5-card hand out of 5 hole cards and 3 community cards. There are also two fun sidebet options

Quote: weaselman

No, the point is this is not "work". Not for anyone, seriously considering themselves a "mathematician", or even just simply a lay person, somewhat proficient in math.

"Work" in this sense does not mean "struggle" or "labor"; it means "produce", "create", "arrange". It's not about the degree of "effort"; it's about who the primary beneficiary is and the effectiveness.

Quote: MrCasinoGames

Is this your Hong Kong Poker™?
An 8-card poker-game with each player aiming to make the best 5-card hand out of 5 hole cards and 3 community cards. There are also two fun sidebet options

Yes.
The Poker room version was done by Gary Willis of Jasper, Texas, and I did the casino design (house-banked) version of it with math and several side bets and house edge mechanism, via the play-check-raise design with a rare Ace-high or less as a full push; I used/referenced the "Pai Gow Push" mechanism from EZ Pai Gow's patent on the patent, and Charles Mousseau verified the math of the casino package. I also wrote the product desccription Guide for both versions of the game.
Gaming Network did the graphics for it (great job on it), - and handles the distribution.
A very sweet, great playing poker game, VERY fond of it.