Students take a gamble on MATH219x

Graphic by Caitlin Orsino

MATH219x is one of the newest—and most unexpected—courses offered at Lasell University. More commonly known as “What are the Odds? The Math of Gambling,” MATH219x is a one-credit experimental course created and taught by Adjunct Professor Robert Morrison. Covering everything from slot machines to horse racing to bookmaking, MATH219x is meant to connect theories taught in a classroom to the inherently mathematical foundation of bets and games.

“I want my students to be more informed consumers, understand odds and understand that the odds always favor the establishment,” Morrison said.

Part of the reason he created the course was because of his own interest in the statistics of gambling.

“I am a big fan of thoroughbred horse racing, and that’s a real numbers game, to try to understand that and bet intelligently,” Morrison said. “I’m sharing that information with the students because I want them to understand how theoretical mathematical constructs do have this real-world application, both as gamblers placing bets and as establishments offering some kind of gambling.”

The course meets once weekly and is structured around reading assignments that provide background information about each topic within the realm of gambling. Students also complete in-class assignments, class discussions, and quizzes.

During a unit about lottery systems, Lasell President Eric Turner visited the class to share his own expertise drawn from personal experience as former executive director of the Massachusetts State Lottery.

Students including senior psychology major Ashley Gochinski were able to learn about the topic from an internal source.

“President Turner talked about a huge scandal the Massachusetts Lottery faced in the ’90s and how the lottery system learned from other states’ mistakes to strengthen their own system,” Gochinski said. “He also said he pretty much did the same thing he does at Lasell: he has meetings all day, and other employees report to him with any news or problems they have.”

Senior sociology major Sabine Milton was drawn to the class by an interest in math, a lack of knowledge about gambling, and a desire to understand the psychological reasons behind gamblers’ decisions.

“Since I’m a sociology major in a math course, I was hoping to gain some sort of understanding as to why people gamble,” Milton said. “Why do people keep spending money when the return on investment is hard to achieve?”

Milton explained that she has enjoyed learning the course material, but she finds Morrison’s method of teaching and passion for the topics to be the most influential in her fascination.

“One of the things that I like is the professor because he enjoys talking about gambling,” Milton said. “It’s not always about betting on it, but talking about scandals and the odds and all other factors to gambling.”

Morrison explained that a wide collection of subtopics are broached within the class—not only the statistics and odds related to winning.

“We don’t shy away from ethical considerations,” Morrison said. “Problem gambling, cheating scandals—there’s plenty of that in all forms of gambling. On the other hand, whether illegal or legal, gambling has a very ancient history. It can be enjoyable, but you have to make sure that you know you don’t gamble recklessly.”

MATH219x was offered to Lasell students for the first time this semester, and is still labelled as an experimental course. Morrison has received positive feedback from his students, who have overall enjoyed the course, and hopes to see it run again in the next spring semester.