The Journey Begins

Hello everyone!

Welcome to Statistics and Slot Machines. My name is Max Waaler and I am a senior at BASIS Scottsdale high school. Unlike most schools, we divide terms into trimesters rather than semesters, and as a senior, I have the opportunity to complete a Senior Research Project during the last trimester of the year, which, upon its completion, will earn me a graduation with high honors. But, before I get too into the project itself, let me briefly introduce myself.

I have been a student at BASIS Scottsdale since the fifth grade, and since then have seen the amazing things that this school does for its students. I am so thankful for the education that the teachers and faculty here provided me. What was particularly unique about my high school experience was that my class was only 87 people . Not only did this allow for close friendships with my peers, but it also allowed me to get the one on one attention from my teachers. One particular teacher, Mr. Peacher, who I’ve been in six classes with over the years, sparked my interest in mathematics and statistics starting in the sixth grade. I have taken AP Calc AB, AP Calc BC, AP Statistics, and some post calculus classes, and my love for math has not wavered a bit.

This is the primary reason why I was so excited when this project opportunity arose. My seventh grade Algebra 2 math teacher is the senior game mathematician at Design Works Gaming, where they design gambling games for casinos and other groups that will prove popular and profitable for the owner of the game (a link to the website is included at the bottom of the post). Around September, he reached out to the school wondering if any seniors were interested in interning at the office. A couple students expressed interest, but in order to qualify for the position there were a couple conditions. First and foremost, we had to be 18 years old, just because of the gambling aspect. Secondly, we had to take a math test and score well on it. Lastly, we had to do an interview with senior game mathematician. Me and a friend were both selected to continue with the project.

Overall, I am super excited to be working in a field that interests me so much with people that I know and work well with. During this project, I will be doing two things on site, which are analyzing statistics and numbers after a game is designed and creating mathematical proofs for a game before it is designed. As the weeks progress, I will continue to post about my experiences and I hope that all of you will enjoy reading about them. Thank you for showing an interest in my project, feel free to follow my blog!

Until next time,

Max Waaler

P.S. Here's the link to the website. It's pretty cool.
http://www.designworksgaming.com/