Bibliograph

Fortune's formula, the untold story of the scientific betting system that beat the casinos and Wall Street, William Poundstone

Type

Label

Fortune's formula, the untold story of the scientific betting system that beat the casinos and Wall Street, William Poundstone

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references (p. 357-367) and index

resource.biographical

contains biographical information

Illustrations

illustrations

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

Fortune's formula

Nature of contents

bibliography

Oclc number

58043309

Responsibility statement

William Poundstone

Sub title

the untold story of the scientific betting system that beat the casinos and Wall Street

Summary

In 1956 two Bell Labs scientists discovered the formula for getting rich. One was mathematician Claude Shannon, neurotic father of our digital age; the other was John L. Kelly, Jr., a Texas-born, gun-toting physicist. Together they applied information theory--the basis of computers and the Internet--to the problem of making as much money as possible, as fast as possible. Shannon and MIT mathematician Edward O. Thorp took the "Kelly formula" to the tables of Las Vegas. It worked. They realized that there was even more money in the stock market, specifically in the risky trading known as arbitrage. Shannon became a successful investor, using his wealth to drop out of the scientific world. This book traces how the Kelly formula sparked controversy even as it made fortunes at racetracks, casinos, and trading desks.--From publisher description

Table Of Contents

Prologue : the wire service -- Entropy -- Blackjack -- Arbitrage -- St. Petersburg wager -- Rico -- Blowing up -- Signal and noise

Classification