A scientist wanted to look at statistics and random data, using gambling. One weekend, he flipped a coin hundreds of times to collect a list of random numbers. But that wasn't enough.
Then he saw that the Casino in his area, in Monte Carlo, published the results of roulette wheel spins daily as a matter of public record. Now they're talking.
So he collected a lot of the results - 16,000 - and did some examination of them. He found red won 50.15% of the time; not an unexpected variance.
Then he looked at streaks. A certain amount of streaks - runs of black or red wins - was expected. But the data shows a lot fewer streaks than predicted - to the point he felt it clearly showed manipulation, and he went public and called for the tables to be shut down (and proceeds donated to science).
An investigation, though, found another explanation: the reporter who recorded the results for publication, had instead just sat at the bar and made up results.
Then he saw that the Casino in his area, in Monte Carlo, published the results of roulette wheel spins daily as a matter of public record. Now they're talking.
So he collected a lot of the results - 16,000 - and did some examination of them. He found red won 50.15% of the time; not an unexpected variance.
Then he looked at streaks. A certain amount of streaks - runs of black or red wins - was expected. But the data shows a lot fewer streaks than predicted - to the point he felt it clearly showed manipulation, and he went public and called for the tables to be shut down (and proceeds donated to science).
An investigation, though, found another explanation: the reporter who recorded the results for publication, had instead just sat at the bar and made up results.
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