Seller
Your price
£12.99
The Perfect Bet
How Science and Maths are Taking the Luck Out of Gambling
By (author)
Adam Kucharski
Trade or Institutional customer? Contact us about large order quotes.
Synopsis
Gamblers have been trying to figure out how to game the system since our ancestors first made wagers over dice fashioned from knucklebones: in revolutionary Paris, the 'martingale' strategy was rumoured to lead to foolproof success at the roulette table; now, in the 21st century, professional gamblers are using cutting-edge techniques to tilt the odds further in their favour. At the roulette wheel, card table or racecourse, science is giving us the competitive edge over opponents, casinos and bookmakers. But is there such a thing as a perfect bet?
The Perfect Bet looks beyond probability and statistics to examine how wagers have inspired a plethora of new disciplines - spanning chaos theory, behavioural psychology, machine learning and game theory - which are not just revolutionising gambling, but changing our fundamental notions about chance, randomness and luck.
Explaining why poker is gaming's last bastion of human superiority over artificial intelligence, how methods originally developed for the US nuclear programme are helping pundits predict sports results and how a new breed of algorithms are managing to lose banks and asset traders millions, The Perfect Bet has the inside track on just about any wager you'd care to place. New & Used
| Seller | Information | Condition | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | - | New | Out of Stock |
What Reviewers Are Saying
This book is full of magic. It's brimming with clever people and clever ideas... The links between betting and science run deep and wide, allowing Kucharski to cover some thrilling intellectual territory. * New Scientist * Terrific: beautifully written, solidly researched and full of surprises * New York Times Numberplay blog * Elegant and amusing ... anyone planning to enter a casino or place an online bet would be advised to
keep this book handy * Wall Street Journal * Great stories of how smart people have used maths, statistics and science to try and beat the odds - legally' -- David Spiegelhalter, Winton Professor for the Public Understanding of Risk, University of Cambridge A wild ride through the history, psychology, mathematics, and technology of gaming - a remarkable look behind the curtain of what most people think is intuitive, but isn't -- Paul Offit, author of Bad Faith With an entertaining writing style, Adam Kucharski guides us through the history and state of the art of "The Perfect Bet," showing us how mathematics and computers are used to come up with optimal ways to gamble, play games, bluff, and invest our money. Extremely well-written and carefully researched. I highly recommend it. -- Arthur Benjamin, Author of 'The Magic of Maths' A lucid yet sophisticated look at the mathematics of probability as it's played out on gaming tables, arenas, and fields... Gamblers and math buffs alike will enjoy it for its smart approach to real-world problems * Kirkus Reviews * [An] enjoyable... paean to human ingenuity, and a Robin Hood tale of wealth redistribution. * Daily Telegraph * Kucharski's clear prose and eye for an entertaining historical anecdote give his book an accessible feel... An enjoyable account. * Racing Post *
keep this book handy * Wall Street Journal * Great stories of how smart people have used maths, statistics and science to try and beat the odds - legally' -- David Spiegelhalte