Kelly Criterion/Ed Thorp

[highnote]

Here's an interesting article by Ed Thorp. He claims to have made over $80 billion in bets over the past 30 years. He says that's about 250,000 bets averaging $65,000 per bet. I'll keep that in mind next time I do a $2 exacta box.

http://www.bjmath.com/bjmath/thorp/paper.htm

[Dick Schmidt]

Sweat person,

Thorp is the real deal, but he's not talking about horse racing. You just can't bet at that level. He's a BIG player in the financial markets and I'm sure he moves that kind of money all the time. He's good enough that his investment service has an unlisted number.

Dick

[ranchwest]

Originally posted by swetyejohn
Here's an interesting article by Ed Thorp. He claims to have made over $80 billion in bets over the past 30 years. He says that's about 250,000 bets averaging $65,000 per bet. I'll keep that in mind next time I do a $2 exacta box.

http://www.bjmath.com/bjmath/thorp/paper.htm

That is 228 bets per day of $65,000 each every day for 30 years. First off, until recent years you couldn't legally bet on that many races in a day unless maybe you could in Las Vegas. Second off, what pool is he playing into to absorb $65,000? I find this difficult to believe.

[highnote]

Dick,
I realize he's talking the stock market and not the racetrack market. But it still puts my bets into perspective.

I think I read in an interview with him in Omni magazine that his company accounted for 1% of the daily trades on the New York Stock Exchange. That's a lot of dough.

John

[anotherdave]

I think his bets are on sports or the stock market mostly.

AD

[Lefty]

Well, duh, the title is The Kelly Criterion in Blackjack, Sports Betting and Stock Market.
BTW, Thorpe, started the counting craze in BJ.