Thorp's Memoirs

[DSchles]

Thought you'd be interested to learn that Ed Thorp has written his memoirs, to be published in January 2017.

Don


About A Man for All Markets

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 that you could do the seemingly impossible—beat the dealer at the blackjack table—and in doing so launched a gambling renaissance. His remarkable success—and mathematically unassailable method—caused such an uproar that the casinos altered the rules of the game to thwart him and the legions he inspired. They barred him from their premises, instituted new rules, and put his life in jeopardy. Nonetheless gambling was forever changed.

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

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 classic—a book that challenges its readers to think logically about a seemingly irrational world.

[Three]

No disrespect to Thorp but people were counting cards long before he came along. What he did was make the casino wise to its vulnerability. Not exactly something to be proud of.

[Ted]

Thought you'd be interested to learn that Ed Thorp has written his memoirs, to be published in January 2017.

Thanks Don. This will make interesting reading. I enjoy reading all things BJ. Just got and am still working on BJA. Thank you, Sir!

[Three]

A child of the Great Depression, legendary mathematician Edward O. Thorp invented card counting, proving that you could do the seemingly impossible—beat the dealer at the blackjack table—and in doing so launched a gambling renaissance.

My comments were in reference to this statement. People were counting cards in BJ in the 1950's and probably much earlier. Thorpe got to use computers to refine what others did on a napkin in 1961. No doubt Thorpe took it to another level but he did not invent card counting. People that understood the effect of repeated drawing with no replacement were counting cards long before Thorpe arrived. It is not that hard to figure out. The precision that computers allowed was a new level of refinement.

[Exoter175]

My comments were in reference to this statement. People were counting cards in BJ in the 1950's and probably much earlier. Thorpe got to use computers to refine what others did on a napkin in 1961. No doubt Thorpe took it to another level but he did not invent card counting. People that understood the effect of repeated drawing with no replacement were counting cards long before Thorpe arrived. It is not that hard to figure out. The precision that computers allowed was a new level of refinement.

Does this make the memoirs less interesting, though? Basically everyone who has written a book after about 1970 has used and regurgitated all of the same information and mathematics, but what gives a book quality is its context, its depth, its story telling. Thorps memoirs are of interest to me, not because I'll find the information useful, but I have a great deal of respect to the pioneers of this game, Thorp, in my eyes, being one of them.

[Three]

Does this make the memoirs less interesting, though? Basically everyone who has written a book after about 1970 has used and regurgitated all of the same information and mathematics, but what gives a book quality is its context, its depth, its story telling. Thorps memoirs are of interest to me, not because I'll find the information useful, but I have a great deal of respect to the pioneers of this game, Thorp, in my eyes, being one of them.

My comments were only about the idea put forth in the first line of the OP that Thorpe invented card counting. It was not intended for any other purpose.

[Stealth]

No disrespect to Thorp but people were counting cards long before he came along. What he did was make the casino wise to its vulnerability. Not exactly something to be proud of.

That IS a disrespect to him.

[Bubbles]

Thanks Don. I'm looking forward to this read.

[DSchles]

My comments were in reference to this statement. People were counting cards in BJ in the 1950's and probably much earlier. Thorpe got to use computers to refine what others did on a napkin in 1961. No doubt Thorpe took it to another level but he did not invent card counting. People that understood the effect of repeated drawing with no replacement were counting cards long before Thorpe arrived. It is not that hard to figure out. The precision that computers allowed was a new level of refinement.

THORP, THORP, THORP!!!

Don

[mofungoo]

Chicken George may have counted cards before Thorp, but Thorp's method was much more accurate. He made it easier for all of us. Vegas was a candy store for nearly 2 decades after Beat The Dealer, and in new casino areas for years past that.

Evidence suggests the casinos still do not understand the true impact counters have on their bottom line, after over 50 years.

[ZenMaster_Flash]

"Chicken George ..."

Doctor Thorpe was "late to the party" in 1962.

However his codification and promulgation was amazing.

In my extensive BJ library I have books from the 1950's and 1940's

referencing Card Counting in Nevada. "Casing the deck" it was called.

[Exoter175]

Don's going to have an aneurysm if you guys keep saying Thorpe.

[Bodarc]

What he did was make the casino wise to its vulnerability. Not exactly something to be proud of.

Tthree, I agree with you. I am sure you could have taught him a lot if he would have just listened to you. Heck, I'm sure you could have taught him how to play the stock market.

Lets make sure no one ever gets any credit for anything unless it is something you spouted.