Betting on Lives


Book Description

By examining the rise of life insurance institutions in 18th-century England, this book offers fresh insight into the history of a commercial society learning to apply speculative techniques to the management of risk.




Betting the Line


Book Description

A study of gambling, particularly sports gambling, and how it has thrived in American culture. According to Davies and Abram, the culture of betting results from two complementary influences in American society: risk-taking and speculation. This is the first effort by academic writers to describe and interpret the history of sports wagering in the United States. Although many books have been written about 3how to bet and win, 4 Betting the Line presents a serious history of this popular activity in Colonial and Civil War eras to today, from early betting on horse racing and baseball to the modern venues of basketball and football. By considering topics as diverse as the business of a bookie, the expansion of legalized gambling, and the increase in popularity of televised sports, the authors offer readers an insightful look into a practice that has become commonplace in American popular culture. In a mere seventy years, the number of states where gambling is legal jumped from one to forty-eight. Yet Nevada remains the only state where sports betting is legal. This book challenges many long-standing myths and stereotypes that revolve around the enterprise, arguing that sports gambling is reflective of the American free enterprise culture.




The Logic Of Sports Betting


Book Description

How do sportsbooks make their lines? Which types of bets are the best? Can you beat the house? The Logic Of Sports Betting answers all these questions and more with a dash of humor and a whole lot of real talk about how it all works. Peek behind the counter and learn how sportsbooks operate. Combine that insider knowledge with why-didn't-I-think-of-that sports betting logic, and you have the winning formula. Ed Miller is a best-selling (over 300,000 copies sold) author of books on poker and gambling. This is his first book on sports betting, but maybe his favorite book to write so far. Matthew Davidow is a sports modeler, using proprietary methods to beat major sports betting markets for over 15 years, and co-founding two leading private sports analytics firms along the way. What people are saying about The Logic Of Sports Betting "Matt and Ed are two of the smartest minds in sports betting." - Rufus Peabody, professional sports bettor "As a sportsbook employee for 30-plus years, I find it difficult to read or watch anything about sports betting. But I could not put The Logic Of Sports Betting down. It's that good." - Robert Walker, Las Vegas bookmaker




You Bet Your Life


Book Description




Betting on You


Book Description

"Indispensable reading for anyone seeking to improve their professional selves." —Daniel H. Pink, #1 New York Times bestselling author of When An essential guide for how to snap out of autopilot and become your own best advocate, with candid anecdotes and easy-to-adopt steps, from veteran HR specialist and popular podcast host Laurie Ruettimann Chances are you've spent the past few months cooped up inside, buried under a relentless news cycle and work that never seems to switch off. Millions of us worldwide are overworked, exhausted, and trying our hardest—yet not getting the recognition we deserve. It’s time for a fix. Top career coach and HR consultant Laurie Ruettimann knows firsthand that work can get a hell of a lot better. A decade ago, Ruettimann was uninspired, blaming others and herself for the unhappiness she felt. Until she had an epiphany: if she wanted a fulfilling existence, she couldn’t sit around and wait for change. She had to be her own leader. She had to truly take ahold of life—the good, the bad, and the downright ugly—in order to transform her future. Today, as businesses prioritize their bottom line over employee satisfaction and workers become increasingly isolated, the need to safeguard your well-being is crucial. And though this sounds intimidating, it’s easier to do than you think. Through tactical advice on how to approach work in a smart and healthy manner, which includes knowing when to sign off for the day, doubling down on our capacity to learn, fixing those finances, and beating impostor syndrome once and for all, Ruettimann lays out the framework necessary to champion your interests and create a life you actually enjoy. Packed with advice and stories of others who regained control of their lives, Betting on You is a game-changing must-read for how to radically improve your day-to-day, working more effectively and enthusiastically starting now.




Thinking in Bets


Book Description

A Wall Street Journal bestseller, now in paperback. Poker champion turned decision strategist Annie Duke teaches you how to get comfortable with uncertainty and make better decisions. Even the best decision doesn't yield the best outcome every time. There's always an element of luck that you can't control, and there's always information hidden from view. So the key to long-term success (and avoiding worrying yourself to death) is to think in bets: How sure am I? What are the possible ways things could turn out? What decision has the highest odds of success? Did I land in the unlucky 10% on the strategy that works 90% of the time? Or is my success attributable to dumb luck rather than great decision making? Annie Duke, a former World Series of Poker champion turned consultant, draws on examples from business, sports, politics, and (of course) poker to share tools anyone can use to embrace uncertainty and make better decisions. For most people, it's difficult to say "I'm not sure" in a world that values and, even, rewards the appearance of certainty. But professional poker players are comfortable with the fact that great decisions don't always lead to great outcomes, and bad decisions don't always lead to bad outcomes. By shifting your thinking from a need for certainty to a goal of accurately assessing what you know and what you don't, you'll be less vulnerable to reactive emotions, knee-jerk biases, and destructive habits in your decision making. You'll become more confident, calm, compassionate, and successful in the long run.




Life on a $5 Bet


Book Description

General Mechenbier went from being a high-spirited fighter pilot, full of hopes and dreams, to a prisoner of war, held in the infamous Hanoi Hilton during the Vietnam War. Life on a $5 Bet tells how he survived those dark days and went on to become a general officer by holding to values learned at the Academy: Integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all we do. Gen. Mechenbier gives the reader a glimpse into his zany life as a test pilot, lobbyist, squadron commander, spy, member of the Reserve Forces Policy Board, golfer, syndicated television air show commentator, sales engineer with major aircraft companies, devoted family man, and pilot of the C-141, dubbed the Hanoi Taxi, on a repatriation flight to Vietnam in 2004.




Betting on the House


Book Description

The prodigal daughter returns to the mountains... Natalie Roche has made it. She has her life, her independence, and her rock-and-roll dream job: a talent manager in L.A., at the world’s largest music management firm. But when her grandmother dies and leaves her the family house in Appalachian Maryland, she has no choice but to trek her way back east and confront the past she’s worked so hard to escape. And family drama isn’t the only thing she finds in the mountains. Bonnie Baker is used to difficult clients: after all, working as a public attorney for ten years offers no shortage of headaches. No one could blame her for indulging in a one-night stand to relieve the stress… until the blue-eyed bombshell from the bar shows up in her office. Now they're both fighting the rules and fighting their attraction, and Natalie has more than just her inheritance at stake. Between the demands of her overbearing boss, her family's secrets, and the weight of her past, will she capsize under the pressure? Or will her new-found friendships teach her what makes a house a home? Betting on the House is an LGBT homecoming story with themes of found family, small town life, and a sprinkling of spice. It is the first book of the stand-alone Fixer Upper Romance series.




You Bet Your Life


Book Description

From one of America's top physicians, a "riveting," "fascinating," and "timely" (Nature) history of risk in medicine Every medical decision--whether to have chemotherapy, an X-ray, or surgery--is a risk, no matter which way you choose. In You Bet Your Life, physician Paul A. Offit argues that, from the first blood transfusions four hundred years ago to the hunt for a COVID-19 vaccine, risk has been essential to the discovery of new treatments. More importantly, understanding the risks is crucial to whether, as a society or as individuals, we accept them. Told in Offit's vigorous and rigorous style, You Bet Your Life is an entertaining history of medicine. But it also lays bare the tortured relationships between intellectual breakthroughs, political realities, and human foibles. As we have learned from the COVID pandemic--the debates over lockdowns, masks, and vaccines--it's all too easy to get everything wrong. Updated with a new introduction, You Bet Your Life is an essential read for getting the future a bit more right.




Betting on Freedom


Book Description

"In this wide-ranging conversation with the Italian journalist Luigi Geninazzi, Cardinal Angelo Scola discusses both the salient moments of his own life and the path and situation of the Church and society in Europe over the last half-century. The Cardinal recounts his life, speaking of the extraordinary gift of particular friendships he has had, starting with Luigi Giussani, founder of the ecclesial movement Communion and Liberation (CL), and moving on to discuss Hans Urs von Balthasar, Henri De Lubac, and Joseph Ratzinger. A figure who bridges the past three pontificates, Scola discusses his relationships with St. John Paul II, by whom he was nominated a bishop at the relatively young age of forty nine; Benedict XVI, with whom he has had an intense intellectual friendship for decades; and Pope Francis, of whom he speaks with affection and hope"--