A Man for All Markets: From Las Vegas to Wall Street, How I

A Man for All Markets: From Las Vegas to Wall Street, How I Beat the Dealer and the Market

The incredible true story of the card-counting mathematics professor who taught the world how to beat the dealer and, as the first of the great quantitative investors, ushered in a revolution on Wall Street.

A child of the Great Depression, legendary mathematician Edward O. Thorp invented card counting, proving the seemingly impossible: that you could beat the dealer at the blackjack table. As a result he launched a gambling renaissance. His remarkable successâ€”and mathematically unassailable methodâ€”caused such an uproar that casinos altered the rules of the game to thwart him and the legions he inspired. They barred him from their premises, even put his life in jeopardy. Nonetheless, gambling was forever changed.

Thereafter, Thorp shifted his sights to â€œthe biggest casino in the worldâ€: Wall Street. Devising and then deploying mathematical formulas to beat the market, Thorp ushered in the era of quantitative finance we live in today. Along the way, the so-called godfather of the quants played bridge with Warren Buffett, crossed swords with a young Rudy Giuliani, detected the Bernie Madoff scheme, and, to beat the game of roulette, invented, with Claude Shannon, the worldâ€™s first wearable computer.

Here, for the first time, Thorp tells the story of what he did, how he did it, his passions and motivations, and the curiosity that has always driven him to disregard conventional wisdom and devise game-changing solutions to seemingly insoluble problems. An intellectual thrill ride, replete with practical wisdom that can guide us all in uncertain financial waters, A Man for All Markets is an instant classicâ€”a book that challenges its readers to think logically about a seemingly irrational world.

Praise for A Man for All Markets

â€œIn A Man for All Markets, [Thorp] delightfully recounts his progress (if that is the word) from college teacher to gambler to hedge-fund manager. Along the way we learn important lessons about the functioning of markets and the logic of investment.â€â€”The Wall Street Journal

â€œ[Thorp] gives a biological summation (think Richard Feynmanâ€™s Surely Youâ€™re Joking, Mr. Feynman!) of his quest to prove the aphorism â€˜the house always winsâ€™ is flawed. . . . Illuminating for the mathematically inclined, and cautionary for would-be gamblers and day tradersâ€â€”
Library Journal
Country USA
Brand Random House Trade Paperbacks
Manufacturer Random House Trade Paperbacks
Binding Paperback
ItemPartNumber part_0812979907
Color Black
ReleaseDate 2018-04-17
UnitCount 1
EANs 9780812979909

Country	USA
Brand	Random House Trade Paperbacks
Manufacturer	Random House Trade Paperbacks
Binding	Paperback
ItemPartNumber	part_0812979907
Color	Black
ReleaseDate	2018-04-17
UnitCount	1
EANs	9780812979909

A Man for All Markets: From Las Vegas to Wall Street, How I Beat the Dealer and the Market

Customers who purchased this also purchased....