Wiz, Is This True?

This Wikipedia article says:

"The mathematicians and computer programmers that do this kind of work are called gaming mathematicians and gaming analysts. Casinos do not have in-house expertise in this field, so outsource their requirements to experts in the gaming analysis field, such as Mike Shackleford, the 'Wizard of Odds'."

Do casinos hire you to do their heavy lifting in the
math dept? Or is the article out of date.

Quote: EvenBob

This Wikipedia article says:

"The mathematicians and computer programmers that do this kind of work are called gaming mathematicians and gaming analysts. Casinos do not have in-house expertise in this field, so outsource their requirements to experts in the gaming analysis field, such as Mike Shackleford, the 'Wizard of Odds'."

Do casinos hire you to do their heavy lifting in the
math dept? Or is the article out of date.

The part about not having in-house mathematicians is true. However, I'm rarely asked to help with anything directly by a casino.

I wish that reference to my name were removed, as my loyalties are to the players first.

Quote: Wizard

I wish that reference to my name were removed, as my loyalties are to the players first.

Because its about you, if you remove the comment
yourself, nobody will oppose you.

Looks like pacomartin already removed it.

He beat me to it, I edit Wiki all the time.

Quote: EvenBob

He beat me to it, I edit Wiki all the time.

When people say things like "How can you really trust anything you read on Wikipedia?", now I'll know why.

Thank you. I didn't think it was that easy to make changes. Once I tried to change the page on Jesus and my change was reversed within seconds.

Quote: Wizard

Thank you. I didn't think it was that easy to make changes. Once I tried to change the page on Jesus and my change was reversed within seconds.

It depends on the subject matter.Articles on Jesus, Mohammed, Queen Elizabeth II, Barack Obama, are all very difficult to make changes. People will reverse you immediately and demand a vote on the matter (which are almost impossible to get). If you try and change it again, they report you and get you banned from making edits.

But it is not proper etiquette to make changes about yourself. It's a violation of one of the codes of conduct. You simply let someone know that the line is not accurate, and if they agree with you they will change it. If someone fights the change you need to form a consensus.

In this particular case if someone fights the change, I would just ask them to provide a reference backing up the statement. It's always easier to deny an assertion than to make one because every statement needs to be backed by a reference.

Here's another article at Wiki with the exact
same quote at the end of it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaming_mathematics

Quote: EvenBob

Here's another article at Wiki with the exact same quote at the end of it.

You can change this one. It was added by someone on Sep 30, 2007 from Perth Australia.

Quote: pacomartin

You can change this one. It was added by someone on Sep 30, 2007 from Perth Australia.

I changed it. Should be checked periodically to
see if it was changed back.

Quote: TheNightfly

When people say things like "How can you really trust anything you read on Wikipedia?", now I'll know why.

Yeah, well, they require a verified source for anything
you want to change. The Encyclopedia Brittanica has
hundreds of mistakes that need correction, and they're
slow as hell in correcting them. Better not read that
either.

Casinos are not the primary customer base for gaming mathematicians anyway. The bulk of freelance gaming math work is done for game developers who can't do the math themselves. I'd say I've done the bulk of my math consulting for three different types of clients: big companies that are in a pinch and need to outsource, smaller gaming vendors who don't have in-house mathematicians, and independent table game inventors. The work I've done for casino operators has primarily been in the online world but those were operational in nature (e.g. "why is our slot hold too low?") rather than related to analysis of the games themselves. There's a lot to be said for the operational space -- being a good GM, casino manager, table game director, etc. depends on it -- but that's not what I'd call gaming math per se. It's more of a revenue optimization problem.

Quote: EvenBob

I changed it. Should be checked periodically to
see if it was changed back.

Only minor changes have been done to Wiz's bio entry that I made last April. So no one is hot on his wikipedia trail. I was accused of uploading a copyrighted photo, even though it was a gift. It was deleted from wikimedia so there is no photo to accompany the article.

Quote: pacomartin

It was deleted from wikimedia so there is no photo to accompany the article.

They obviously deleted it because its not the Wiz.
This is what he looks like without all the airbrushing.