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15

2010

Feeling Lucky? What’s Luck Got to Do with It?

by Leslie Nangle | Filed in: history of science - Mathematics | 5:30pm EST

Why do so many gamblers risk it all when they know the odds of winning are against them? Why do they believe dice are “hot” in a winning streak? Why do we expect heads on a coin toss after several flips have turned up tails? What’s Luck Got to Do with It? takes a lively and eye-opening look at the mathematics, history, and psychology of gambling to reveal the most widely held misconceptions about luck. It exposes the hazards of feeling lucky, and uses the mathematics of predictable outcomes to show when our chances of winning are actually good.

The introduction is now online: http://bit.ly/acJjDT

What’s Luck Got to Do with It?
The History, Mathematics, and Psychology of the Gambler’s Illusion
By Joseph Mazur

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 15th, 2010 at 5:30 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 discussion feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

One Response

On June 16th, 2010 at 1:38 pm Vorarlberger replied:

Think you have to differentiate between gamblers and poker players (esp. cash game). There is no other game where you can win it all with the worst hand/luck.

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