Probability and poker Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Probability and poker - Research Paper Example One of the common card games people engage in today is poker. It is played with a deck of fifty two cards. The ranks of a player’s cards and the combinations of these cards help determine the winner. In order to win big, players risk larger sums of money, hoping that they do not loose. Therefore, poker, just like any other gambling activity, is purely based on chance. In mathematics, one of the widely covered topics is probability, which is the study of the likelihood of an event occurring. For this reason, poker is directly related to this mathematical concept because outcomes are based on chance. Although most people question the importance of studying mathematics in school, the application of mathematical concepts in the real world are varied. Probability, which is a branch of mathematics, is one of the most used concepts in the world. This research aims at demonstrating how probability is used in gambling by focusing on the game of poker. For most poker players, there is strong belief in experience, skill and luck. Most players have an illusion of control in which a person beliefs he has the ability to understand and determine the outcome of uncertain events. Professional poker players are seen as those who have the ability to read their opponents with a high level of accuracy based on tiny or non-existent clues (Istrate, 55). Experienced players are those that have the ability to make accurate predictions, thereby increasing their chances of winning. In approaching the game of poker, most players look at their opponents to identify certain flaws or features that will help them to win the game. These flaws will tell them the weaknesses of their opponents, and thus capitalize on these weaknesses to win games. For this reason, players look at the position the opponents occupy on the table, their timings and pace, and the way they behave and move

Why School Should Start Later Essay Example for Free

Why School Should Start Later Essay Dont you hate waking up early in the morning? During the school year, students wake up early to get ready for school. In my opinion, its not practical for students to begin classes before 8:00 AM. I feel that schools should start an hour later, resulting in better attendances, grades and attitudes. Its a proven fact that teenagers need between 8 ? and 9 hours of sleep each night. Its also a proven fact that only 15 % of teenagers get the sleep that they need. Can you believe that more than 25 % of teenagers sleep less than seven hours a night? Are you one of those teenagers? Well, part of the reason why this is happening is because school starts so early in the morning. If school hours were changed, teenagers would be much healthier and feel better. If school started later, teenagers will have a longer time to sleep and time to prepare for school. A later start would mean that students would not be late to school as often as they have more time to wake up and get ready for school. The concentration levels of the students would increase as they have had the chance to prepare themselves for the day ahead. If concentration is improved then the rise in grades will increase. It will be more productive for schools and it would also give teachers more time to prepare for classes and the day ahead before the students arrive. Furthermore, school officials are always complaining that so many of their students are constantly tardy to school. They even have a policy in our school that states, if you are tardy five times to a certain class you have to stay an hour after school sitting in detention. Out of the many reasons students receive an office detention for being tardy; its usually due to their first period class. They dont get to school on time because they oversleep, so if these school officials dont like students being tardy, why dont they consider having school start later? Additionally, the first two periods seem like a waste. Students arent learning to their full potential, and as a result arent getting the grades they are capable of. Over 20 % of all high school students fall asleep in school at one time or another. Its hard to learn while youre sleeping. Also, part of the reason why students dont get enough sleep is because they are up late studying. You cant expect students to come home from school, study, eat dinner, do their homework and then go to bed right away. Teenagers need to watch TV, talk to their friends, and run errands after school. We arent machines; we need fun in our lives. With an extra hour of sleep, we will be refreshed and ready to learn for our first couple of classes. While many people say that if schools started an hour later, kids would just be staying up longer and goofing off, theyre wrong. Having that extra hour, students could have time to relax and wouldnt feel as rushed to do everything they have to do. So whats the problem? There is none. School officials need to stop making excuses against this. In a nutshell, I believe all schools including ours should adopt this schedule of beginning the school day an hour later. With an extra hour of sleep, students would have better attendance, better grades, and a better attitude towards school. What is the use of trying to teach kids that cant learn? Sending kids to school before they have had ample time to wake up will only result in them not learning to their full potential.

Essay on the Search for Freedom in Kate Chopins The Story of an Hour

Search for Freedom in The Story of an Hour  Ã‚      In the early 1900s, marriage was comparable to a master-and-slave relationship.   The role of the woman in the marriage was minimal.   The woman’s place was in the house, caring for the children, cleaning the house, and doing other â€Å"womanly† tasks.   Chained to their husbands, marriage became prison to many women; the only means of breaking free from these bonds being the death of a husband.   In Kate Chopin’s â€Å"The Story of an Hour,† Mrs. Mallard lives for an hour, experiencing rebirth into freedom and death when that freedom is lost.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   While sitting downstairs, Mrs. Mallard grieves over the loss of her husband, and over her new-found freedom.   His death tears out everything from right underneath her very own feet.   Dependent and heartbroken, everything she relies on her husband for has now become her responsibility.   Weeping â€Å"with sudden, wild abandonment†¦.,† Mrs. Mallard allows her emotions over her husband’s death to flow freely, thus...

Social control, discipline and regulation

Many more serious crimes such as large scale tax evasion which costs the government a lot of money, are often overlooked and are seldom prosecuted. Over time some laws which are no longer relevant are disseminated and other acts become criminals. These change with new governments and societal and culture changes. In 1967 the Sexual Offences Act was introduced which made it illegal in Britain for men of any age to have consensual sex together. Over time society has come to accept gay relationships and so in turn the law surrounding gay couples has also relaxed.In 2005 civil partnerships were introduced to give gay couples similar rights to married couples and the current government Is looking at making gay marriages legal. If deviant behavior seems to becoming more common, such as people carrying weapons then new legislations are put in place or existing legislations are updated and more harsh penalties are put in place to deter criminals and reduce crimes and visitation. Travis Hirsh (1969) through his social bond theory tries to explain why some people don't commit crime. He argues the question Why do they do it? Is not a question the control theory is signed to answer.The important question he says is Why don't we do it? [1]. Hirsh identified four main characteristics or social bonds which explain conformity. The more a person features these characteristics the less likely they are to become deviant or criminal. Attachment to family and friends he seen as the most Important factor In his social bond theory, this influence supports our norms, values and conscience. If we did not care about how we were perceived by our family and friends then we would be free to act deviant. Commitment to achievement Is another actor, this refers to how much effort, time and money a person puts into a particular activity.A person such as a doctor who has spent a lot of time, effort and money on educating themselves is less likely to become deviant because a criminal record coul d result in them losing their job. Involvement in conventional activities leaves a person with less time to think about or get involved in deviant activities. Belief refers to the strength of our commitment to a particular belief. There are variations in our beliefs; the less a person believes he should follow the rules the more likely he is to elate them. A criticism of Hirer's work would be to ask why people commit crime.This assumes that law abiding behavior is normal and that the majority of people do not commit crimes. In some sub cultures deviant behavior is the norm, children born Into this kind of culture and grow up breaking the law because It Is normal to them. Walsh does not explain this kind of behavior. When crimes are committed the judicial system uses different forms of punishment or social control. This is used to law. Harsh forms of social control are imprisonment or even death in some countries. A softer form of social control is things like fines and community ser vice.In Michel Faculty's book, Discipline and Punishment, he looks at the birth of the prison and how the penal system has changed from. In the 17th century the forms of punishment were brutal public tortures, humiliations, hangings and executions which focused on hurting the physical body. This triggered many riots in sympathy and support for the convict; the public were against these cruel methods of punishment which were also inconsistent. Faculty's believes this form of punishment was to show the power of the state rather than to act as deterrence.Prisons were first introduced in the 18th century as a result of the public protests for punishment without torture. Prisons focused punishment on the souls and minds of prisoners as the mind was now seen as more valuable and the body was seen as Just a machine controlled by the mind. This new form of discipline and punishment was able to control and manage the prisoner at all times rather than short bursts of bodily torture which was previously used. The prison became more than a place where offenders were deprived and became a place where discipline could be instilled.Faculty saw this as abuse of power, its main purpose would have been, an attempt to reform the criminal in the hope that upon his release he would be less likely to refined and become a contributing member of society. Faculty believes that detention causes recidivism; and states, â€Å"those leaving prison have more chance of going back to it; a very high proportion, up to 38 per cent of inmates were convicted again† [2]. If prisons worked then they would be empty. Jeremy Beneath a utilitarian philosopher was interested in the design of prisons. He designed a circular prison which he called the Pontific.It had a central tower so prison officers had a 360 view and could see into all of the cells at all times. The inmates could not see into the central tower and so never knew if they were being watched. The exact blueprint was never built but it did have some impact on how future prisons were designed. Faculty said that constant supervision and forced discipline broke the will of the criminal and made him into a ‘docile body which is easily controlled by people in authority. This was then ideal for the new economics, politics and warfare of modern industrial society.It enslaves us to a life of government controlled discipline. Critiques of Faculty have focused mainly on his ideas of struggle for self-freedom from the disciplines of society, believing that people should be unique individuals and be their true self. He does not explain this in depth nor does he explain how it fits in with society. Edward W Said states: other critics of Faculty argue he did not go in depth when explaining the struggle between individuality and society. Faculty did not give a purpose for the struggle or a goal to be obtained. Why should complete individuality be the ultimate purpose in life? For Faculty there seems to be no focal mint , but rather an endless network of relations† (Ho, 1986: 55). If a person were to believe Faculty's idea then following any rule of society would be submitting to the discipline of society. The anti-institutional consensus of the sass's refers to a cultural movement that developed in the United States and England. The baby boom children from the sass's were growing up in the sass's. The growing consciousness of a younger generation may have led to a shift in perspectives on societal wrongdoings. Race relations, women's rights and differing interpretations of the American Dream.People questioned the legitimacy of the state and started to challenge authority, this resulted in boycotts, marches, protests, sit-ins and riots. Along with drug use and sexual liberation, criminality rocketed. The role of women as full time homemakers in industrial society was challenged in 1963, giving way to the women's movement and influencing a second wave in feminism. The availability of birth con trol was the foundation of the sexual liberation. The idea of ‘recreational sex' without the threat of unwanted pregnancies changed society as it allowed men a women greater freedom outside traditional marriage.With this change in attitude, the amount of children born outside wedlock in the I-J rose from 8% in 1971 to nearly 45 % in 2007 [3]. This counterculture of the sass's influenced Governments to rethink criminal acts. There were changes in human rights and laws were put in place to tackle discrimination between men and women. From 1967 abortion became legal, and women became able to divorce their husbands when the Divorce Reform Act came into force in 1969. John Breathiest, an Australian criminologist recognizes that the current criminal justice system labels and astigmatisms offenders, making crime problems worse.He looks at the relationship between crime and social reactions in his book Crime, Shame and Reintegration. He believes a restorative Justice system to be more effective than a punitive Justice system which enables offenders and victims to come together. He suggests the key to crime control is cultural shaming and making the offender feel remorse for what he has done. Breathiest identifies two types of shaming. Disintegrative shaming is where the offender is stigmatize and excluded from society, becoming labeled along with his behavior.Reintegrating shaming is where criminal behavior is condemned rather than the offender. He is kept within society and is shown forgiveness through words or gestures. Breathiest argues that crime rates are higher in places where disintegrative shaming is used. His hypothesis is that in societies where there is a strong commitment to place collective interests over individual interest there are stronger incentives for people to conform and lower crime rates. He uses the example of Japan which is highly urbanites and densely populated; we would assume that crime rates would be high.Arrest rates are high UT pro secution rates are low. Cultural factors play an important role, honor and pride within Japanese families is very important so bringing shame upon the family is a deterrent to committing crimes. These traditions date back to the Samurai Warriors who would fall upon their own swords (Hair Kari) to prevent bringing shame upon their families. Japanese parents often commit suicide when their children commit serious crimes as they cannot cope with the shame and feel partly responsible. It is hard to compare the I-J with societies such as Japan which is a more equal society and less diverse.In the I-J the Home Office gave legislative endorsement to these ideas in 1998 Crime and Disorder Act and the 1999 Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act reflecting the definition of restorative Justice as restoration, reintegration and responsibility [4]. All kinds of initiatives that attempt to bring the victim and the offender together now carries the label ‘restorative'. Rock (1990) describe d the restorative system as a ‘dead duck so it is interesting to reflect upon the process whereby it gained its current status. Daly (2002) discusses in detail the that the current punitive Justice system to be ineffective.Prisons in England are currently close to full capacity, if they were effective they would be empty. Inmates are reportedly more likely to become recidivists and commit new crimes that they have learnt from other inmates. This causes greater problems for the Government when it comes to tackling crime. I believe that Michel Faculty is right in the sense that imprisonment, along with constant supervision and discipline is an abuse of power. John Barbiturate's work on a restorative Justice system could be beneficial to some offenders, victims and more importantly society as a whole.

Literature Review Global Financial Crisis Regulation

â€Å"Global Financial Crisis: Regulatory Arbitrage and Paradigm Shifts† In early 2008, the economy ground to an almost complete halt. As the stock indexes were overwhelmed by a virtual tsunami of never relenting red digits, it became clear that the financial markets had been hit by a crisis the scope and scale of which had not been witnessed since the Wall Street Crash of the 1930’s. Over time the causes became more clear, and as the dust settled, the world was left with several important questions to answer. First of all, there was the question of whether or not the global financial crisis was actually caused by flawed regulations and financial institutions or whether it is the fundamental behaviour of the financial market that is flawed, as caused by behavioural issues such as moral hazard and principle agent problems. As an extension of this, the second question involves whether or not financial regulation will be sufficient in realizing a stable and sustainable financial system or if a true paradigmal and behavioural shift is required. Finally and more practically, the third question is how such a change may be brought about in practice, and which exact aspects of the financial paradigm should be altered in order to realize sustainable financial markets. As we look more closely at the following questions and the appropriate literature, one can discern several issues, which may form the basis for further academic inquiry. First of all, it is clear that despite far reaching efforts of scholars, governments and other institutions to develop and introduce financial regulation in response to the financial crisis, recent evidence suggests that these measures fail to recognize fundamental flaws in the paradigms and values Freewriting exercise – Skills 3: Academic Writing S. N. Geesing – 342570 2010-2011 underlying actions of main financial institutions and firms, which need to be addressed in order to realise a sustainable financial process in the long term. From this main statement, we can now look into several direct causes of the crisis that can be related to the incentives that underlie these markets. One of these causes, as it appears, is the fact that Wall Street managed to lure the brightest minds in economics and mathematics with promises of wealth and fame, thus managing to consistently outsmart governmental institutions. By exploiting loop holes in regulatory frameworks, often done by developing complex financial derivates, the bulge bracket firms that set the tone in investment banking gained access to nearly limitless profits, foregoing issues of ethics and risk minimization in favour of short term and often personal gain. After recognizing this pattern, one may conclude that simply increasing bank reserves or bailing out mortgages (as many governments have done so far) will not allow for long term sustainability within financial markets. Other measures, such as increased transparency, caps on bonuses and reinvented incentive reward systems are more effective, but have proven difficult to practically implement. Introducing new regulation is always troublesome and this type of regulations has been met by heavy resistance, especially in the US, the place where new regulation is especially necessary. For this reason and more, a more indirect way of changing values and paradigms must be sought. Scholars have suggested that such measures are most likely to be found in economic theory and, more specifically, in forms of game theoretical applications, in which the government and the financial institutions act as â€Å"players† in a game that can be described as the general economy and financial markets.