Hi Everyone:

I'm putting this both here and on our "History Forum." I need a historian to help me with a book project. The tentative title of the book is A History of the World From a Gambler's Perspective, and I'll give equal status to the historian who becomes the co-author.

To qualify, the historian must have a legitimate degree in history and, of course, an advanced degree is even better (but not required).

For those who don't know, I have already written some of this material in my book Gambling Theory and Other Topics, and want to pick up from there. That means rewriting some of this material and adding much new material (and I already have a number of ideas for the new material).

Obviously, the book is over titled but the idea is to find people and events where someone took a clear gamble that follows precepts which those of us who understand poker/gambling well will immediatelyrecognize.

A couple of chapters include how Robert E. Lee used poker tactics to defeat George McClellan and The Army of the Potomac during the Seven Days battles early in the Civil War. Another topic would be how Sir Francis Drake used sound gambling principles to defeat the Spanish Amada, with another topic being how General “Gentleman Johnny” Burgoynne, due to a complete misunderstanding of gambling tendencies in most people, lost a large portion of his army early in his campaign that contributed to his defeat at "The Battle of Saratoga." And there's lots more.

Additional topics can include the best NFL bet ever – Super Bowl IV (not III); David versus Goliath and how poor Goliath never had a chance, the luckiest man who ever lived: Hernan Cortez, better to be lucky than good: Braxton Bragg at the Battle of Chickamauga, and so much more. And I’m sure there are a whole lot of other events that would qualify.

If interested, either post here or send me a PM. And it will be a few months before I can get to work on this.

Best wishes,
Mason

I think you'll find most historians will not have the breadth of knowledge to be of much help to you. They mostly focus on specific areas. The place I would start is with the history department of UNLV. The subject matter experts could point you to the best generalist written materials of the subjects you select. If you wanted to simply compile and edit others thoughts on a subject, it would seem that convincing them to use master thesis to generate the various chapters. You could give credit for the individual chapters to those students.

Another approach would be to use historical figures to illustrate various gambling concepts. Lee is a classic case of the folly of being under bankrolled. He was by far the best player in the tournament of the Civil War. He won a lot of "hands." But as Shelby Foote noted, if the North was ever truely threatened, it would have poured their full resources into the war and crushed the South anyway.

Hi Venice:

I don’t agree with Foote. While he was a wonderful historian, he was not an expert at Gambling Theory, but it seemed as if Lee was.

When your expectation is negative, to maximize your chance you need to increase the standard deviation, even if it lowers your expectation. So a lot of Lee’s strategy was based on trying to get lucky, and he almost pulled it off.

Best wishes,
Mason

LOL kinda ******ed to require a degree on a subject you definitely don't need a degree to be an expert in. Your old tho, you olds don't really get the new generation of learners as well as the learners that preceded you. To me getting a degree says I studied the same stuff that 1000s and maybe millions of others have. Have fun with a bunch of software clones.


I'm saying that as someone that almost obsessively studies the science and history of humans.

IMO the degree increases the probability and demonstrates that they have the ability to follow through and complete their assignments.

As you pointed out it, a person without a degree might also be qualified but would have to show proof of knowledge and performance.

Speaking as someone without a degree in my field.

Sounds very interesting. Can't help you with it but would look forward to reading. O/u 5 years until publication if ever? Hope it's well under but I know these things take time.

Doesn’t matter, the degree of one author results in a totally different level of credibility in the view of a decent amount of potential buyers. Getting that kind of person on the cover is the right business decision.

Maybe you should add the story about the spanish guy who burned down all his ships to encourage the crew to fight harder agains the mayans. Not sure what his name is

He probably wants someone that can properly research, cite, and write about history using original documents instead of referencing a popular nonfiction book like a lot of people might do. The request for a degree is a good filter for this.

While I'd agree that looking at those with degrees and no one else might be a little blinkered, your post comes across as even more narrow-minded.

As others have mentioned, the degree is a good filter. I wouldn't expect that Mason will be assuming anyone with a degree is qualified, just like I wouldn't be surprised if he'd consider someone without a degree if they could demonstrate some exceptional knowledge. But as madlex mentioned, people interested in the book will be looking at the authors' credentials as well.

I've got several degrees, from pretty prestigious universities. What you can get from successful study for a degree at a really good university is , literally, an understanding of how to think. There is a benefit to academic rigor; that process can teach one how to think, as opposed to what to think.

Perhaps you don't get or need that perspective or experience. "Almost obsessively studying" something however no more lends it credence than did the hundreds of years devoted to obsessive study of Alchemy seeking to produce a credible method to turn lead into gold.

https://www.livescience.com/39314-alchemy.html

If you're doing a chapter on gambling related tattoos I'll be glad to lend a hand.

Hernando Cortez

Brilliant move to force your company to fight as there is no return.

Close .... Hernan Cortes, and it was the Aztecs. (He was afraid his men would sale back to Cuba.) https://www.jstor.org/stable/335707?...n_tab_contents

He also had to pay the Governor of Cuba for the ships he destroyed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hern%C3%A1n_Cort%C3%A9s

Close ....

I think you are going about this the wrong way. A historical perspective of decision making would be a mixture of decisions related to both chess and poker. Many poker-like decisions are more spontaneous...example....civil war general didn't know what to do, so he attacked...i.e...aggression is often rewarded. Also, General Custer's strategy wasn't well understood and not well thought of, but Grant selected him because he was 'lucky'...again...Custer got lucky a lot because he was aggressive. If you want to compare using statistics and odds in poker, you'd have to compare it to someone like General Lamay or Robert McNamara(fog of war) for how they used statistics in planning an analyzing attacks. But, most decision making in history...which has been often analyzed in checkmate stories...often involved chess-like moves in politics. Though...one might argue whether John F Kennedy was really bluffing in the cuban missile crisis.

lol

Damn, I can't even blame that f**king annoying Grammarly app.

lol, which is countered by an historical General Custer reference from the Sopranos as to why shoving all-in every hand works until the time it doesn't.

"Mrs. Custer grabs the artist, "oh! "I tell you i want a painting "commemorating my husband's last thoughts, you give me cows with halos and indians making love?"

"Mrs. Custer," he says. "Those are your husband's last thoughts, "Holy cow, look at all those ****ing indians."

Read more: https://www.springfieldspringfield.c...episode=s03e06

I'm not a historian but I've heard that various presidents played poker so you might want to look into that.

[QUOTE=Videopro;54884461]IMO the degree increases the probability and demonstrates that they have the ability to follow through and complete their assignments.

As you pointed out it, a person without a degree might also be qualified but would have to show proof of knowledge and performance.

Speaking as someone without a degree in my field.



+1

[QUOTE=DuckU;54885698] In which instance statements such as :

"LOL kinda ******ed to require a degree on a subject you definitely don't need a degree to be an expert in. Your old tho, you olds don't really get the new generation of learners as well as the learners that preceded you. To me getting a degree says I studied the same stuff that 1000s and maybe millions of others have. Have fun with a bunch of software clones.
I'm saying that as someone that almost obsessively studies the science and history of humans."

would probably not advance an effort to meet that burden of proof.

For those of you who have my book Gambling Theory and Other Topics, take a look at the "Gambling Fantasy" section and you'll get a good isea as to what this material looks like.

Best wishes,
Mason

Hi Mason:
I am Professor of History at the University of Alicante (Spain) and Editor-in-chief of Poker10.com.
Please, send me a PM.
Best regards.

My degree is in managerial economics and my profession is media relations and public communications.

As such, I hope I am qualified to look forward to your book.