I have many favorite anecdotes from "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman" (of course) but one that always sticks with me is this: The first time I was in Las Veg

I have many favorite anecdotes from "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman" (of course) but one that always sticks with me is this: The first time I was in Las Vegas I sat down and figured out the odds for everything, and I discovered that the odds for the crap table were something like .493. If I bet a dollar, it would only cost me 1.4 cents. So I thought to myself, “Why am I so reluctant to bet? It hardly costs anything!” So I started betting, and right away I lost five dollars in succession—one, two, three, four, five. I was supposed to be out only seven cents; instead, I was five dollars behind! I’ve never gambled since then (with my own money, that is). I’m very lucky that I started off losing.