Luck, Logic, and White Lies: The Mathematics of Games (Paperback)

~ Jorg Bewersdorff (Author), David Kramer (Translator) "Although we are exposed in our daily lives to a variety of situations involving chance and probability, it was games of chance that provided the..." (more)
Key Phrases: nim variants, disjunctive sum, poker model, New York, Scientific American, Monte Carlo (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The mathematical underpinnings of games, whether they are strategic or games of chance, have been known for centuries, but are usually only understood by players and aficionados who have a background in mathematics. The author has succeeded in making that knowledge accessible, entertaining, and useful to everyone who likes to play and win.

The information applies to such diverse and popular games as Roulette, Monopoly™, Chess, Go, numerous card games, and many more. He reviews the mathematical foundations, probability, combinatorics, and mathematical game theory, the field that won John Nash of A Beautiful Mind the Nobel Prize, and emphasizes the implementation of these techniques so that players can put them to work immediately.

An extensive bibliography and sections describing the historical developments are welcome features to put the subject in a broader context

About the Author

Dr. Jorg Bewersdorff received his PhD in Mathematics from the Univeristy of Bonn (Germany) and the Max-Plank Institute for Mathematics. Since 1988 he has been General Manager of Mega-Spielgerate, where he previously held the positions of director of R&D and game design.

Product Details

• Paperback: 486 pages
• Publisher: AK Peters (November 23, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568812108
• ISBN-13: 978-1568812106
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #733,593 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended reading among avid game players, April 11, 2005

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

Written by the general manager of Mega-Spielgerate, a game design company based in Limburg, Germany, Luck, Logic & White Lies: The Mathematics Of Games is a no-nonsense instructional in basic probability, geometry, and mathematics as they apply to popular games. Topics discussed include popular myths among those who the lottery, to the question of whether it is possible to reconcile chance and mathematical certainty, to testing dice, the possibilities of distribution in a roulette, modern theories as applied to the classical game of Go, whether bluffing in poker can be done without psychology, and so much more. Written in plain terms, Luck, Logic & 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.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Some Math, but you don't have to be a Mathematician, January 8, 2007

By	John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As this book points out, games fall into three broad categories:

1. Games of Chance
2. Games with a large number of combinations of different moves
3. Different states of information among the individual players.

And this book is broken into three main sections, one for each of these.

Before you get too turned off, yes, there is some math in this book. But it is really not heavy duty. (After all, John Nash of A Beautiful Mind won the Nobel Prize for his work on game theory and his work was not simple math.) The authors explanations of the situations described in the games are very good are very good, and the minimal amount of math is really helpful.

Virtually all of the common games from from the lottery to chess and even Monopoly, as well as the casino games such as blackjack and Roulette are discussed in detail. For anyone interested in what's really going on in games they play, this is an extremely interesting book.

The author knows whereof he speaks, he is the general manager of a game design company based in Germany.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great introduction to the mathematics of games, August 16, 2005

By	Alfred H. Wallace (Springfield, MO) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

So many books about the mathematics of games are either long out of print, hard to find, or fairly esoteric and not something I'd recommend to just anyone. 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, which never takes one very far away from either the math or the games behind them. I love Winning Ways and On Numbers and Games, but they're definitely not for the faint of heart. LL&WL is the perfect book for gamers who are interested in the mathematics that underlie the choices they face and decisions they make. Just great stuff.