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Randomness in Your Poker Results? Don't Forget "Regression to the Mean"

I just finished reading a brand-new book: What the Luck? The Surprising Role of Chance in Our Everyday Lives by Gary Smith.

The title doesn't disclose the actual subject of the book, which is a statistical phenomenon known as "regression to the mean." I first learned of regression to the mean in a stats class in my formal education back in the Stone Age, but I confess I dismissed it as something useful only for passing the final exam, not in real life. Smith's lively book has completely changed my view. It's now clear to me that as Smith argues, the concept is not just important, but comes up practically everywhere.