The Meridian Society has the pleasure to inform you that our forthcoming lecture will be held on Friday, 18th May.
Ms Mary Ann Hashlak Fraser will tell us an intriguing inside story in a casino in Macao and using that inside story, she will stress the importance of stories in gambling and the characteristics of how they are told. She will also refer to attitudes differences to gambling in Chinese and various Western cultures.
For more information and how to get there please see the attached leaflet.
Everyone is welcome! We look forward to seeing you there.
Note: This lecture will be in English and free for all students
Time: Friday, 18th May 2007. Arrive at 6.20pm; Lecture starts at 6.30pm, (Due to limited seats available, please arrive early to avoid disappointment)
Venue: Khalili Lecture Theatre,SOAS, University of London, Russell Square, LondonWC1H OXG
Transport:
Tube: The nearest tube stations are Russell Square and Goodge Street.
Bus: Take buses 73，10，24，29，134 to Waterston bookshop of Gower
Macau is a synonym for gambling. Until 2001, the STDM company of local tycoon Stanley Ho held a forty-year monopoly on the Macau casinos. The STDM was the largest employer in Macau, and as part of their license obligations, they were responsible for everything from road and bridge building to social service commitments. They were like a little fiefdom. Not only did they control most corners of Macau life, but they took for granted that everything and everybody’s money and their play was under their control. Except in the mid-1980s, there was a little-known episode that challenged them.
What happened was that professional blackjack players mathematically assessed that the Macau game was very easy to beat. This led to skilled players from the US, Australia, the UK and some from Hong Kong descending on Macau. The STDM was shocked; it had never occurred to them that somebody could actually win from them. Mary Ann Hushlak was there at the time and in this lecture, she will tell the inside story and using that inside story, she will stress the importance of stories in gambling and the characteristics of how they are told. She will also refer to attitudes differences to gambling in Chinese and various Western cultures.
NOTE: Although Mary Ann Hushlak will explain, simply and where necessary, the mathematical principles underlying gambling games, this will not be a lecture about how to win at blackjack!
