The mathematical theory of probability has its roots in attempts to analyze games of chance by Gerolamo Cardano in the sixteenth century , and by Pierre de Fermat and Blaise Pascal in the seventeenth century ( for example the `` problem of points '' ) .
The mathematical theory of probability has its roots in attempts to analyse games of chance by Gerolamo Cardano in the sixteenth century , and by Pierre de Fermat and Blaise Pascal in the seventeenth century ( for example the `` problem of points '' ) .