Book · 2015 · Games & Activities
How to Win Games and Beat People
Demolish Your Family and Friends at over 30 Classic Games with Advice from an International Array of Experts
- mentions
- 8
- people
- 2
- podcast
- 1
- episodes
- 2
- recommendation
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Today, how to win any game, if not with grace necessarily, with Tom Whipple as our guide and his book as our Bible.
Stephen Dubner · Freakonomics Radio · May 2016 What they say about it
- Mentions book title“title of Whipple's book”3
The best things said about it
The title of Whipple's book is How to Win Games and Beat People. Nothing particularly bloodthirsty about that. But the subtitle, Defeat and Demolish Your Friends and Family.
Stephen Dubner Freakonomics Radio · May 2016 The point of this game is I think we shouldn't, or this book is that we shouldn't really trust each other and we're all out to win.
Having become master or at least a surrogate master for the proper masters of all these games and having written this book about how to win games and beat people.
Stephen Dubner Freakonomics Radio · May 2016 Where and when it comes up
Mentions per year
How it comes up
Why people recommend it
How to Win Games and Beat People by Tom Whipple is an insightful and entertaining guide that reveals the optimal strategies for succeeding at casual games, complete with expert advice and practical tables. Stephen Dubner featured the book on Freakonomics Radio, framing it as the guiding text for an episode exploring how to win games with grace or ruthlessness. Dubner noted the playful contrast between the book's mild title and its bloodthirsty subtitle, Defeat and Demolish Your Friends and Family. Later, during a rebroadcast of the episode, Dubner welcomed the author to play a series of matches, including Hangman, Battleship, and Connect Four. Tom Whipple joined the discussion to explain how the book’s strategies draw from experts and data rather than blind trust, pointing out that everyone is ultimately out to win. Dubner and Whipple reflected on whether knowing these optimal strategies might dilute the pure joy of winning, yet they acknowledged the undeniable value of having a reliable system. Throughout the episodes, the book served as both a manual for tactical dominance and a humorous lens through which to examine human competitiveness among friends and family members.
Every mention
Stephen Dubner Today, how to win any game, if not with grace necessarily, with Tom Whipple as our guide and his book as ou… 6
“Whipple has written a book titled How to Win Games and Beat People.”
“As we mentioned, the title of Whipple's book is How to Win Games and Beat People.”
“Tom Whipple, the author of How to Win Games and Beat People, has agreed to play four games with me.”
“As we mentioned, the title of Whipple's book is How to Win Games and Beat People. Nothing particularly bloodthirsty about that. But the subtitle, Defeat and Demolish Your Friends and Family.”
“Today, how to win any game, if not with grace necessarily, with Tom Whipple as our guide and his book as our Bible.”
“You beat me soundly at Battleship. We hung each other once in Hangman and I got lucky on Connect Four. So here's my question for you. Having become master or at least a surrogate master for the proper masters of all these games and having written this book about how to win games and beat people”
Tom Whipple Well, the point of this game is I think we shouldn't, or this book is that we shouldn't really trust each o… 2
“Well, the point of this game is I think we shouldn't, or this book is that we shouldn't really trust each other and we're all out to win.”
“Could I learn that strategy as well pretty quickly? Quite boringly, there's a table in my book, um, which, which got the first letter on the board. The strategy for this, I should say, I spoke to, um, Nick Berry”
Other mentions (4: passing, ad reads, own books)
“So I suppose this book was an attempt to codify that in such a way that I can eventually beat Terry. Whipple has written a book titled How to Win Games and Beat People.”
“typically I would read the book, or at least most of the book, of the person I'm interviewing. And in this case, I purposely did not read it because I did not want to know your secrets yet.”
“Tom Whipple, the author of How to Win Games and Beat People, has agreed to play four games with me. I have prepared by not reading his book.”
“What was also reported at the time was that the reason she won was because she had read the master's thesis of a guy called Victor Alice. Now, obviously, I could have interviewed Kanye West for my book.”