The Perfect Bet: How Science and Maths are Taking the Luck Out of Gambling

[An] enjoyable... paean to human ingenuity, and a Robin Hood tale of wealth redistribution. (Daily Telegraph)

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) ast-moving, exciting, psychologically acute, warmly sceptical (Bryan Appleyard Sunday Times)

Vastly engaging ... a tremendously enjoyable and scholarly read. (Natalie Haynes Observer)

Sustaining the energy that such a topic demands for more than 600 pages, while providing a coherent answer to the question of why Rome expanded so spectacularly, is hugely ambitious. Beard succeeds triumphantly ... full of insights and delights ... SPQR is consistently enlivened by Beard's eye for detail and her excellent sense of humour. (Sunday Times)

Masterful ... This is exemplary popular history, engaging but never dumbed down, providing both the grand sweep and the intimate details that bring the distant past vividly to life (Economist)

Ground-breaking ... invigorating ... revolutionary ... a whole new approach to ancient history (Thomas Hodgkinson Spectator)

This book is a treasure, both as a fascinating read in itself and as a fine work of reference to correct our lazy misconceptions about an ancient world that still has much to instruct us today (Herald)

Praise for Mary Beard:

'She's pulled off that rare trick of becoming a don with a high media profile who hasn't sold out, who is absolutely respected by the academy for her scholarship ... what she says is always powerful and interesting