Category Archives: Games

Ancient probability

Posted on March 6, 2017 by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

Although modern probability theory dates to the 1600s, our ancestors have been playing games of chance for a very long time. Via the amazing Cliff Pickover, for example, check out this ancient die (circa 2500 B.C.) from the Indus Valley Civilization. (Photo Credit: … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Games, History, Probability | 1 Comment

We owe Tom Brady an apology …

Posted on October 10, 2016 by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

When news of #DeflateGate broke after the AFC Championship Game in January 2015, we were among the first bloggers to condemn quarterback Tom Brady and the New England Patriots for breaking NFL rules. After all, the Patriots have cheated before, … Continue reading →

Posted in Bayesian Reasoning, Culture, Current Affairs, Games, Law, Sports | Leave a comment

Simple Explanation of the Monty Hall Problem

Posted on September 14, 2016 by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

This is the simplest and fastest explanation of the Monty Hall Problem we have ever seen.

Posted in Bayesian Reasoning, Games, Probability | 4 Comments

One-dimensional circle chess

Posted on September 12, 2016 by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

Posted in Games, Rules | Leave a comment

Seriously, why is beach volleyball an Olympic sport?

Posted on August 3, 2016 by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

While we brace ourselves for NBC’s excessive coverage of the venerable sport of beach volleyball at the 2016 Olympics, we want to second the snobbish sentiments of Paul Lewis, who wrote the following wisecracks during the 2008 Olympics: “The cynic … Continue reading →

Posted in Games, Sports | 4 Comments

A beautiful free kick (in Spanish)

Posted on June 22, 2016 by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

Posted in Games, Probability, Sports | Leave a comment

Anatomy of a shot block

Posted on June 22, 2016 by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

Posted in Games, Probability, Science, Sports | Leave a comment

How couples meet

Posted on June 2, 2016 by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

Or, to be more precise, how couples who publish their wedding announcements in the New York Times meet. Data scientist Todd W. Schneider built a special-purpose website called Wedding Crunchers that analyzes wedding announcements published in the Sunday Times. His data … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Games, Lotteries, Probability | Leave a comment

Indeterminate chess rules

Posted on May 21, 2016 by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

In the course of writing up our paper on “immoral promises,” we searched for and read the essay “Wicked Promises” by J.E.J. Altham, and in the process of obtaining Altham’s essay, we stumbled upon a short paper by Ian Hacking … Continue reading →

Posted in Games, Paradoxes, Philosophy, Uncategorized | 2 Comments