The House Advantage: Playing the Odds to Win Big in Business

Ma, the math whiz and subject of Ben Mezrich’s bestselling Bringing Down the House, turns his savvy to business. A former professional card counter on the MIT blackjack team, Ma used statistics to beat the game, and his enthusiasm for the power of data and for overcoming emotion to make the best decisions proves persuasive. Though his lessons aren’t particularly new, his methods and thrilling stories of card counting in Vegas gives his book a compelling boost. He instructs leaders to recall that past performance, like a dealt blackjack hand, has an impact on the future; to avoid groupthink and a “hot hand,” or overconfidence, at all costs; and to prioritize what the data says. Even those who do not consider themselves math types can benefit from posing business issues as follows: a simple question helps focus a complex mathematical model and that complex mathematical model helps solve a very important business problem. It’s a spirited—if simplified—approach to decision making. (July)