Basic probability/stats and some basic fundamentals around dynamic programming/recursion would be very helpful. The big problem I found with this field is that

Basic probability/stats and some basic fundamentals around dynamic programming/recursion would be very helpful. The big problem I found with this field is that the core ideas are very subtly built on top of each other. Without a proper teacher or an environment to study, self-study is much much harder. (Past chapter 5, it should be a breeze as the foundation would have been strongly set)