Even the Emperor Claudius played obsessively and wrote a book called How to win at dice. Gambling became so popular that the Romans tried to restrict it to Saturdays. The ancient Egyptians, presumably when nothing good was on television, sat around and played board games in which moves were decided by throwing an astragalus, which is a bone in the heel that can land on one of four sides. Devices that embody randomness have been used in leisure for at least 5,000 years. While you think about this, you might be surprised to discover how far back our urge for gambling stretches. Let’s say you fancied a Maserati costing $100,000, but sadly you only had a dollar, what form of gambling will give you the best chance of getting the sports car? I’ll even make it a little easier for you by giving you three choices – a punt on the lottery, a flutter on the horses or a spin on the roulette wheel. But us statisticians are allowed to fantasise a little, so here’s a hypothetical challenge. Gamblers and statisticians share a love of odds, though the stakes on the table couldn’t be more different between the two. Over the course of his playing career he’s thought to have won and lost $500 million. “The next best thing to gambling and winning is gambling and losing.” So said legendary gambler Nick “The Greek” Dandalos, and he would know.