What Are the Odds?: Chance in Everyday Life

This is not a probability and statistics text. It is a general introduction to the ideas of chance, probability and some general ideas of game theory. There is some attention to games of chance (roulette, craps, slot machines, video poker and blackjack), but this is not the book if you are looking for detailed instruction on how the best play these games. There is some general guidance, but there are many other books which provide much more detailed information. Likewise, while the idea of game theory is discussed, it is in the most general terms and not with the detail found in a book on game theory. I would recommend this book for someone who is looking for a very general introduction to the subjects listed above. It is a quick and entertaining read, but I would not recommend it to someone who wants a more detailed treatment of chance, probability and game theory.

Orkin writes clearly for the novice and uses a minimal amount of mathematics. He provides clear explanations of games of chance including roulette and blackjack. The coverage on blackjack is particularly detailed and some of the anecdotes are very amusing. It is a little disappointing however since it promises examples from everyday life in the title but concentrates mainly on gambling and coincidence and does not offer much in the way of real problems. Some of the examples are overly simplistic. Still the discussion of gambling is interesting and there are many good references.

Did you know that if you drive 10 miles to buy a Powerball ticket, you are 16 times more likely to die in a car crash than you are to win the jackpot? Or better yet, that if you buy50 Powerball tickets a week, you will win --- once every 30,000 years? And how about this one: The chances of tossing a coin in the air and having it land heads up 100 times in a row are one in 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. (That?s 30 zeros, folks.) The odds of having a great time while reading this book: 100 percent. Guaranteed. Author Michael Orkin takes a different spin on life with this lively read, a compendium of chancein everyday life. Ultimately, it?s a book about mathematical possibility --- and it adds up to great fun!

What are the Odds? opened my eyes to the world of chance. Not only did the author provide numerous interesting examples, he also showed the prevalence of chance in our daily lives. The chapters on gambling games provided a reality check and will help me on my next visit to Las Vegas. The chapter on Prisoner's Dilemma provided ways to be cooperative that protect against exploitation. Especially noteworthy is the author's ability to describe mathematical topics in an understandable way.