On the Edge: The Art of Risking Everything

Mathematically, there is an optimal way to play such games, but it assumes that players are strangers who will never meet again (i.e. you and that secondhand car salesman). Dutifully, the students produced the optimal solution. But most of the players in the ethnographic societies did not. They either accepted offers that were far too low or insist

“It’s important in most areas of life to come up with a probability instead of a yes or no,” he told me. “It’s a huge flaw that people make in a lot of areas that they analyze, whether they’re trying to form a fiscal union, pay for groceries, or hoping that they don’t get fired.” Dwan seeks to exploit these tendencies by deliberately obfuscating hi

In effect, I’m calling the bet, but I don’t raise. I simply stay in the hand to see what will happen. Three dollars a word, comes the next email. Done. I’ve won the hand and extracted more value than I ever thought I could from it. Thank you, Aggressive Idiot Asshole; you have taught me well.