One of those unique minds who combined amazing innate math abilities with a flair for practical implications, Thorpe would enjoy decades of results that even earned the respect of Warren Buffet. Thorpe dives into any number of related topics including his own tale of spotting the Madoff fraud 20 years before it came to light....noone listened to him either. So entertaining . . . pretty wonderful . . . Thorp’s manner of thinking and doing . . . is an inspiration in these confused times.” —Bloomberg.com There’s an old saying, ‘Give a person a fish and they eat for a day; teach a person to fish and they eat for a lifetime.’ And it’s a similar thing for thinking. If you give somebody advice about a problem, they might solve that one problem. If you teach them how to think about problems, they can solve problems for the rest of their life.”

A Man for All Markets: Beating the Odds, from Las Vegas to

From Malory’s story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, I learned about heroes and villains, romance, justice, and retribution. I admired the heroes who, through extraordinary abilities and resourcefulness, achieved great things. Introverted and thoughtful, I may have been inspired to mirror this in the future by using my mind to overcome intellectual obstacles, instead of my body to defeat human opponents. The books helped establish lifelong values of fair play, a level playing field for everyone, and treating others as I myself wish to be treated.For all of his chest puffery, I honestly don't see how Mr. Thorpe benefits society. He exploited loopholes. Not super admirable. He seems to have had a nice life and cared very much about family and friends. While I certainly appreciate that aspect of his life and career, it's not special enough to warrant such a long and rambling autobiography. There is gambling, and then there is the sure thing. Somewhere in between lurks probability, chance, and risk. For Thorp (Beat the Dealer), identifying the probability of beating the house became a lifelong challenge. Here, he gives a biographical summation (think Richard Feynman's Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!) of his quest to prove the aphorism "the house always wins" is flawed. While some rules (physics) are immutable, almost anything that is devised by humans has a weak point, be it gambling, insurance, or finance. The problem for Thorp, and everyone else, is that, once discovered, the rules can and will be altered. This may require changing strategy or finding new opportunity. For Thorp, this meant moving from card counting to hedge funds. As the author describes his efforts, it is easy to oversimplify. There is a lot of brain power at work and the application of high-level math skills. The lesson is that intelligence with diligence can overcome a disadvantage. VERDICT A mixed message—illuminating for the mathematically inclined, and cautionary for would-be gamblers and day traders.—Steven Silkunas, Fernandina Beach, FL Library Journal

A Man for All Markets by Edward O. Thorp, read by Stream A Man for All Markets by Edward O. Thorp, read by

You dont have to take my words for it. Mr.Taleb himself endorsed this book. So it must be something. be — cool. Critical is fine, but if you’re rude, we’ll delete your stuff. Please do not put your URL in the comment text and please use your PERSONAL name or initials and not your business name, as the latter comes off like spam. Have fun and thanks for adding to the conversation! (Thanks to Brian Oberkirch for the inspiration.)Following up on his success at twenty-one, Thorp, along with Claude Shannon, designed and built a mechanical and electrical device that allowed them to gain an advantage in roulette by predicting with some proficiency approximately where the bouncing ball would end up. That was quite a coup especially considering that it happened fifty-some years ago. After teaching me counting, my father’s next project for me was reading. We started with See Spot, See Spot Run, and See Jane. I was puzzled and disoriented for a couple of days; then I saw that the groups of letters stood for the words we spoke. In the next few weeks I went through all of our simple beginner books and developed a small vocabulary. Now it got exciting. I saw printed words everywhere and realized that if I could figure out how to pronounce them I might recognize them and know what they meant. Phonics came naturally, and I learned to sound out words so I could say them aloud. Next was the reverse process—hear a word and say the letters—spelling. By the time I turned five I was reading at the level of a ten-year-old, gobbling up everything I could find.

A Man for All Markets by Edward O. Thorp | Waterstones

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. The author is an extraordinarily talented and successful person. He is a brilliant theoretician who can justifiably lay claim to a handful of good mathematical theories. He is also a good investor. He has led an interesting life, particularly when he was taking on the casinos. The author has a life story that needs to be recorded for the rest of us. Yet, the way he describes it makes it unbearably one-sided and as if coming from a person too much in love with himself. This episode is brought to you by AG1!I get asked all the time, “If you could use only one supplement, what would it be?” My answer is usually AG1, my all-in-one nutritional insurance. I recommended it in The 4-Hour Bodyin 2010 and did not get paid to do so. I do my best with nutrient-dense meals, of course, but AG1further covers my bases with vitamins, minerals, and whole-food-sourced micronutrients that support gut health and the immune system.The authors have created a sort of anti-Book of Virtues in this encyclopedic compendium of the ways and means of power.