Abstract: Why do some people always seem "lucky" while others keep losing? In this interactive
presentation, we pull back the curtain on the hidden mathematics of risk and reward
using the classic dice game, Pig. While the game seems to rely entirely on the luck
of the draw, we will demonstrate how the principles of Expected Value can be used
to "hack" the game and find the statistically perfect strategy.
Things to bring: A pair of dice
WSU Math Circle Spring 2026 Schedule:
02/22/2026: Dr Daniel Grady: "Polygons and symmetry"
03/01/2026: Dr Buma Fridman: "How big is infinity? Comparing sizes of infinite sets"
03/08/2026: Dr Catherine Searle: The geometry of the game SET
03/29/2026: D. W. Hall: Peaceful Chess
04/12/2026: Santosh Linkha: Fibonacci and the Golden Ratio
04/19/2026: Richard Traverzo: All About TORC: Triangles, Oscillations, Rotations, and Circles
04/26/2026: Dr Yeil Kwon: The Battle of Greed vs Mathematics
Math for Everyone lectures:
04/03/2026: Professor Colin Adams:
Title: Blown Away: What Knot to Do When Sailing
by Sir Randolph Bacon III, cousin-in-law to Colin Adams
Abstract:
Being a tale of adventure on the high seas, involving great risk to the tale teller,
and how an understanding of the mathematical theory of knots saved his bacon. No nautical
or mathematical background assumed.
04/30/2026: Tim Chartier
05/01/2026: Tim Chartier
WSU Math Circle Fall 2025 Schedule:
02/14/2025: Dr Mark Meyer: "Slithering Snake"
09/21/2025: Daniel Trousdale: "Cracking the Cryptic (sudoku variants)"
9/28/2025: Dr Tianshi Lu: "Calculating pi"
10/05/2025: Dr Nathan Thompson: "Finding Perfect Thirds"
10/19/2025: Dr William Ingle: "Vectors"
10/26/2025: Bijay Basnet: "Squares and Triangles"
11/2/2025: David Hall
11/9/2025: Dr George Bousefield
11/16/2025: Dr Mai Dao
Meeting times
Math Circle meets on Sundays from 2 to 3 p.m. on the Wichita State Main Campus, in Jabara Hall, Room 372. You should park in Lots 13 and 15.
About WSU Math Circles
Join us to explore math through hands-on and interactive activities led by university
professors.
The Wichita State University Math Circle exists to keep young people interested in
mathematics and let them explore and enjoy new topics. Math Circles (WSU Math Circles on Facebook) bring mathematicians and mathematical scientists into direct contact with pre-college
students – currently 5th through 8th graders. Students and parents meet with math professionals in an informal and supervised
setting to work on interesting problems and topics in mathematics. The goal is to
get students excited and passionate about mathematics.
About Math Circles
Math Circles for students brings K-12 students together with mathematically sophisticated leaders in an informal
setting, after school or on weekends, to work on interesting problems or topics in
mathematics. Math Circles combine significant content with settings that encourage
a sense of discovery and excitement about mathematics through problem-solving and
interactive exploration. Ideal problems are low-threshold, high-ceiling; they offer
a variety of entry points and can be approached with a minimal mathematical background,
but lead to deep mathematical concepts and can be connected to advanced mathematics.
(Math Circle on Facebook)
Past Activities
Special Events:
2/7/24 - "e-day" celebration & Children's math library open hourse, with an e-Talk
by Dr. Stephen Brady;
WSU Math Circle Fall 2024 Schedule:
9/15/2024: Dr. William Ingle; "Binomial Coefficients"
9/22/2024: Jamie Swan; "Apportionment methods"
9/29/2024: Dr. Mai Dao; "Keeping your messages secret"
10/6/2024: Dr. Xiaolong Li; "Bulgarian Solitaire"
10/20/2024: Dr. Daniel Grady; "The game of Nim"
10/27/2024: Mark Meyer; "Isoperimetric Problems"
11/3/2024: Dr. Yeil Kwon; "The Broken Stick Problem & Probabilistic Simulation for
Pi"
11/10/2024: Dr. Stephen Brady; "Exploring the real number system"
11/17/2024: David Hall; "Mondrian Art Puzzles"
Spring 2024 Schedule:
2/11/24 - Dr. Robert Fraser; "Infinite Sums"
2/18/24 - Dr. Mai Dao; "Cracking Longitude at Sea"
2/25/24 - Ashley Thompson; "Careers in Math: My Experience as a Stress Engineering Intern"
3/3/24 - Dr. Xiaolong Li; "Magic with Math"
3/24/24 - Dr. Tianshi Lu; "Math on the Chessboard"
4/7/24 - Dr. Nick Solomey; "The Mathematical Postulates Behind Modern Physics"
4/14/24 - Mark Meyer; "Optimal strategy for cutting a circle (or slicing a pizza)"
4/21/24 - Jamie Swan; "Mathematical Investigation of the game Spot It"
4/28/24 -Dr. Holger Meyer; "Self-similarity in nature and mathematics"
Fall 2023 Schedule:
9/10/23 - Dr. Thalia Jeffres
9/17/23 - Dr. Fujian Yan
9/24/23 - Mark Meyer
10/1/23 - Dr. Mai Dao
10/8/23 - Dr. Buma Fridman
10/22/23 - Dr. Nickolas Solomey
10/29/23 - Jamie Swan
11/5/23 - Dr. Daniel Grady
11/12/23 - Dr. Catherine Searle
11/19/23 - Elton Bowman
Partially supported by the National Science Foundation. Organizers: Tinka Davis, William
Ingle, Rachel Heckman, and Xiaolong Li
Math Circle promotes mathematical literacy, curiosity in youth
K-12 students get a taste of nitrogen in their ice cream
Mia Hennen, The Sunflower
Professor Elizabeth Behrman demonstrates what happens when you pour liquid nitrogen
on a balloon to K-12 students involved in Math Circle. Math Circle was a group that
met up on Sundays to help instill the love of math and math-related subjects in younger
generations. Read the story »
Mia Hennen, The Sunflower