Mathis LaurentStage 9 · Lyon › Lyon · 164 km
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Roadbook · Stage 9Nine years in gambling maths

Mathis Laurent

Game Analyst at Casino Guru

Mathis reads a casino game the way a rider reads a stage profile: where it climbs, where it drops and how long the flat stretches last. At Casino Guru he analyses RTP, volatility and the mathematics behind each game, after working as a junior quantitative analyst at a gambling software auditing firm and teaching statistics part-time.

Start
Lyon, 1990
Distance
9 years
Terrain
RTP · volatility
Team
Casino Guru
Mathis Laurent in a navy jumper and round glasses, standing on a tree-lined riverside path
Mathis Laurent, Lyon

Reading the profile

Same average, a very different ride

The two imaginary slots in his book Variance both pay back 96% of what is staked. Slot A pays 2 on almost every other spin; Slot B pays 960 once in a thousand. Over 1,000 spins one rides like a flat stage, the other like a mountain stage. Mathis's job is to tell players which stage they are about to ride, before they set off.

SlotA

Flat stage

RTP 96% · pays on 48% of spins · low volatility
SlotB

Mountain stage

RTP 96% · pays on 0.1% of spins · high volatility

One simulated run of 1,000 spins at 1 unit each, both drawn on the same scale. The dashed line is the starting balance. Another run would look different; the average would not.

Checkpoints

What he analyses

  1. KM 14

    RTP analysis

    What share of the money staked a game pays back over the long run, and how to check the figure a provider publishes.

  2. KM 41

    Volatility and variance modelling

    How the same RTP can feel steady or brutal, and how long the dry spells can last.

  3. KM 77

    Gambling mathematics

    Odds, payouts, house edge and expected value, explained without fear of numbers.

  4. KM 103

    Game software auditing

    How games are tested before they reach players, from his years at an auditing firm.

  5. KM 139

    Applied statistics

    The tool behind all of the above, and the subject he taught part-time.

The stages so far

Work and education

Work experience

  1. Stage3

    TodayHors catégorie

    Game Analyst

    Casino Guru

  2. Stage2

    EarlierCat. 1

    Junior quantitative analyst

    Gambling software auditing firm

  3. Stage1

    EarlierCat. 3

    Statistics lecturer

    Part-time

Education The time trials

  1. TT2

    2012 – 2014

    Master's degree in Applied Mathematics

    University of Lyon

  2. TT1

    2009 – 2012

    Bachelor's degree in Mathematics

    University of Lyon

Full career →

Books

Three books, all written in English

The hidden side of casino games, a friendly guide to statistics and a book of essays on chess and cycling. All three are written in English.

Variance: The Hidden Side of Every Casino Game, Explained Without Fear of Numbers

Variance

English · 78 chapters · 5 parts

 Thinking in Statistics: A Friendly Guide to Numbers, Uncertainty and Everyday Decisions

Thinking in Statistics

English · 86 chapters · 4 parts

 Sixty-Four Squares and Two Wheels: Essays on Chess, Cycling and the Pleasure of Effort

Sixty-Four Squares and Two Wheels

English · 89 chapters · 3 parts
All books →

Rest day

Climbs around Lyon, chess on club nights

Away from the spreadsheets Mathis rides a road bike in the hills around Lyon, mostly on the quiet roads of the Monts du Lyonnais to the west, and he has climbed Mont Ventoux once, slowly. He has also played competitive chess since his teens. Both end up in his essays, Sixty-Four Squares and Two Wheels.

Mathis Laurent in a grey jumper, sitting on a park bench and listening to someone
Between two climbs

Stage facts

Role
Game Analyst, Casino Guru
Experience
9 years analysing gambling mathematics on online comparison platforms
Before Casino Guru
Junior quantitative analyst at a gambling software auditing firm; part-time statistics lecturer
Education
Master's in Applied Mathematics (2012–2014) and Bachelor's in Mathematics (2009–2012), University of Lyon
Languages
French (native), English (fluent)
Born in
Lyon, France
Based in
Lyon, France
Outside work
Road cycling, competitive chess
To the finish: write to Mathis