Luck, Logic, and White Lies
The Mathematics of Games
Preview
Book Description
Praise for the First Edition
"Luck, Logic, and White Lies teaches readers of all backgrounds about the insight mathematical knowledge can bring and is highly recommended reading among avid game players, both to better understand the game itself and to improve one’s skills."
– Midwest Book Review
"The best book I've found for someone new to game math is Luck, Logic and White Lies by Jörg Bewersdorff. It introduces the reader to a vast mathematical literature, and does so in an enormously clear manner. . ."
– Alfred Wallace, Musings, Ramblings, and Things Left Unsaid
"The aim is to introduce the mathematics that will allow analysis of the problem or game. This is done in gentle stages, from chapter to chapter, so as to reach as broad an audience as possible . . . Anyone who likes games and has a taste for analytical thinking will enjoy this book."
– Peter Fillmore, CMS Notes
Luck, Logic, and White Lies: The Mathematics of Games, Second Edition considers a specific problem—generally a game or game fragment and introduces the related mathematical methods. It contains a section on the historical development of the theories of games of chance, and combinatorial and strategic games.
This new edition features new and much refreshed chapters, including an all-new Part IV on the problem of how to measure skill in games. Readers are also introduced to new references and techniques developed since the previous edition.
Features
- Provides a uniquely historical perspective on the mathematical underpinnings of a comprehensive list of games
- Suitable for a broad audience of differing mathematical levels. Anyone with a passion for games, game theory, and mathematics will enjoy this book, whether they be students, academics, or game enthusiasts
- Covers a wide selection of topics at a level that can be appreciated on a historical, recreational, and mathematical level.
Jörg Bewersdorff (1958) studied mathematics from 1975 to 1982 at the University of Bonn and earned his PhD in 1985. In the same year, he started his career as game developer and mathematician. He served as the general manager of the subsidiaries of Gauselmann AG for more than two decades where he developed electronic gaming machines, automatic payment machines, and coin-operated Internet terminals.
Dr. Bewersdorff has authored several books on Galois theory (translated in English and Korean), mathematical statistics, and object-oriented programming with JavaScript.
*Here is the list of Errata for the second edition of Luck, Logic, and White Lies: The Mathematics of Games: http://bewersdorff-online.de/LLWL-errata.pdf
Table of Contents
I. Games of Chance. 1. Dice and Probability. 2. Waiting for a Double. 3. Tips on Playing the Lottery: More Equal Than Equal? 4. A Fair Division: But How? 5. The Red and the Black: The Law of Large Numbers. 6. Asymmetric Dice: Are They Worth Anything? 7. Probability and Geometry. 8. Chance and Mathematical Certainty: Are They Reconcilable? 9. In Quest of the Equiprobable. 10. Winning the Game: Probability and Value. 11. Which Die Is Best? 12. A Die Is Tested. 13. The Normal Distribution: A Race to the Finish! 14. And Not Only at Roulette: The Poisson Distribution. 15. When Formulas Become Too Complex: The Monte Carlo Method. 16. Markov Chains and the Game Monopoly. 17 Blackjack: A Las Vegas Fairy Tale. II. Combinatorial Games. 18. Which Move Is Best? 19. Chances of Winning and Symmetry. 20. A Game for Three. 21. Nim: The Easy Winner! 22. Lasker Nim: Winning Along a Secret Path. 23. Black-and-White Nim: To Each His (or Her) Own. 24. A Game with Dominoes: Have We Run Out of Space Yet? 25. Go: A Classical Game with a Modern Theory. 26. Misere Games: Loser Wins! 27. The Computer as Game Partner. 28. Can Winning Prospects Always Be Determined? 29. Games and Complexity: When Calculations Take Too Long. 30. A Good Memory and Luck: And Nothing Else? 31. Backgammon: To Double or Not to Double? 32. Mastermind: Playing It Safe. III. Strategic Games. 33. Rock–Paper–Scissors: The Enemy's Unknown Plan. 34. Minimax Versus Psychology: Even in Poker? 35. Bluffing in Poker: Can It Be Done Without Psychology? 36. Symmetric Games: Disadvantages Are Avoidable, but How? 37. Minimax and Linear Optimization: As Simple as Can Be. 38. Play It Again, Sam: Does Experience Make Us Wiser? 39. Le Her: Should I Exchange? 40. Deciding at Random: But How? 41. Optimal Play: Planning Efficiently. 42. Baccarat: Draw from a Five? 43. Three-Person Poker: Is It a Matter of Trust? 44 QUAAK! Child's Play? 45 Mastermind: Color Codes and Minimax. 46. A Car, Two Goats–and a Quizmaster. IV. Epilogue: Chance, Skill, and Symmetry. 47. A Player's Inuence and Its Limits. 48. Games of Chance and Games of Skill. 49. In Quest of a Measure. 50. Measuring the Proportion of Skill. 51. Poker: The Hotly Debated Issue.
Author(s)
Biography
Jörg Bewersdorff (1958) studied mathematics from 1975 to 1982 at the University of Bonn and earned his PhD in 1985. In the same year, he started his career as game developer and mathematician. He served as the general manager at the subsidiaries of the Gauslmann AG for more than two decades where he developed electronic gaming machines, automatic payment machines and coin operated internet terminals.
Jörg Bewersdorff has authored several books on Galois theory (translated in English and Korean), mathematical statistics and object-orientated programming with JavaScript.
Reviews
"As the title indicates, Bewersdorff’s book is intended to span the mathematics of games in general – not only games of chance but also including strategic and skill games. The author covers all the big categories of games – casino, tournament, and house or social games. In fact, the skill-strategic dimension of the games balanced with the chance-uncertainty dimension is the central element around which the author presents games as an important field of application of mathematics; he takes them as a good opportunity to advocate for the beauty and power of mathematics. To that point, the book is written so as to be both popular and scholarly, and these attributes are not at all inconsistent with each other for such a general topic, content, and style.
[. . .] The book leaves the impression of its author’s being a skilled advocate of the unlimited power of mathematics, shown through the examples of games. Not only is mathematics able to describe the games and the way we play them, but it is entitled to address fundamental questions beyond the problem-solving aspects of games and gaming. It is mainly game theory and probability theory that grant mathematics such a virtue. [. . .] Although the chapters can mostly be read independent of each other, and the mathematical content is not systematized throughout the book, the mathematically-inclined reader can put things together to have an objective overview of one of the most interesting fields in application of mathematics – games – which themselves shaped the development of mathematics."
– International Gambling Studies
"The author provides a great deal of insight into a wide variety of games, all inspected from a mathematical point of view. He develops the prerequisites mathematically, so that someone with a good high-school background in mathematics and a willingness to learn will be able to build up the necessary tools for successful play. Moreover, the author’s arguments are often very detailed, so that even a novice can easily follow them. The numerous diagrams also help.I find Bewersdorff's writing to be clear and detailed. He has taken care in the presentation of the ideas. The book, the size of which has now grown to 568 pages, provides a great deal of information, and the reader can easily pick and choose topics of interest without having to absorb the entire treatise. The level of Mathematical skill needed, however, does vary greatly from chapter to chapter. When necessary, the reader can make use of previous chapters to develop the required background to proceed. To the prospective reader, good luck, and may your play be a winning one!"
– The Mathematical Intelligencer
"Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, Luck, Logic, and White Lies: The Mathematics of Games is a unique and unreservedly recommended addition to professional, community, college, and university library Game Theory & Mathematics collections."
– Midwest Books Review"A great variety of games are analyzed in an accessible way. The treatment of blackjack, in particular, is superb."
– Stewart Ethier, Professor Emeritus, University of Utah and author of The Doctrine of Chances: Probabilistic Aspects of Gambling"People play games for fun and for profit. To become better at a game, you need to study it. In Luck, Logic and White Lies, Jörg Bewersdorff takes you, almost imperceptibly, from the history of numerous concrete games to their mathematical analysis. This touches upon a wide range of techniques, not only in mathematics, but also in computing and psychology. If you get the hang of it, you can apply these techniques to other areas of life, such as business, economics, biology, and sociology."
– Tom Verhoeff, Dept. Math & CS, Eindhoven University of TechnologyPraise for the First Edition
"Luck, Logic, and White Lies teaches readers of all backgrounds about the insight mathematical knowledge can bring and is highly recommended reading among avid game players, both to better understand the game itself and to improve one's skills."
– Midwest Book Review"The best book I've found for someone new to game math is Luck, Logic and White Lies by Jörg Bewersdorff. It introduces the reader to a vast mathematical literature, and does so in an enormously clear manner. . ."
– Alfred Wallace, Musings, Ramblings, and Things Left Unsaid"The aim is to introduce the mathematics that will allow analysis of the problem or game. This is done in gentle stages, from chapter to chapter, so as to reach as broad an audience as possible [. . .] Anyone who likes games and has a taste for analytical thinking will enjoy this book."
– Peter Fillmore, CMS Notes