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

(Paperback)

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Card-counting mathematics professor Tech inventor Hedge fund heavyweight Bestselling author A scarcely imaginable tale of ludicrous success Edward O. Thorp rose up from nothing to become a professor at MIT, invented card counting and proceeded to beat the dealers of Las Vegas at blackjack, roulette and baccarat. Having brushed shoulders with casino mobsters and survived, he shared his secrets with the world, launching a gambling renaissance. His next stop was Wall Street, where he used statistical techniques to identify and exploit pricing anomalies in the securities markets, ushering in a stock market revolution and becoming the first of the great quantitative investors. In a remarkable career, Thorp attracted the attention of the legendary Warren Buffet, detected the Bernie Madoff scheme, invented the worlds first wearable computer and amassed a significant personal fortune. Now Thorp shares his incredible life story for the first time, revealing how he made his money and giving advice to the next generation of investors. An intellectual thrill ride, replete with practical wisdom, A Man for All Markets reveals the power of logic in a seemingly irrational world.

Reviews

Thorp secured prizes, scholarships a professorship and assassination attempt by the mob[A] rattling read.

* Business Life (British Airways magazine) *

A lively read.

* MoneyWeek *

An amazing book by a true icon; Thorp launched revolutions in Vegas and on Wall Street by turning math into magic, and here he weaves his own life lessons into a page turner as hot as a deck full of aces. Loved it!

-- Ben Mezrich, New York Times bestselling author of Bringing Down The House and The Accidental Billionaires

An extraordinary autobiography which reads like a novel and contains insights into what has gone wrong with the financial system along the way.

-- John Kay, author of Other Peoples Money

In 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.

* Wall Street Journal *

Ed Thorp takes us on an incredible journey as we learn how to beat blackjack, roulette, and then Wall Street, stop off to have dinner with a young Buffett, unmask Madoff before anyone else, and so much more. More important, its all fun, fascinating and filled with lessons we can all use to be more successful in business and life. Learn and enjoy, I did!

-- Joel Greenblatt, author of the New York Times bestseller The Little Book that Beats the Market

InA 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.

* Wall Street Journal *

The gripping story of how one mans genius and dedication has solved so many problems in diverse fieldsThere is nothing more important than knowing how to think clearly. Read this book and learn from a master.

-- Paul Wilmott, founder, Wilmott Magazine

Whether you are an aspiring professional player, a casual gambler, or an occasional visitor to Las Vegas, you can feel the impact of Professor Ed Thorps intellect on that desert city. In 1962, Thorp published the classic bookBeat the Dealer. The text was based on Thorps original research that stemmed from his curiosity about the game of 21, and was billed as a how to book for the lay person to beat the casinos at blackjack. And simply stated it changed everythingThe book chronicles Thorps heroic-like arc from his humble beginnings growing up in a family that struggled to get by first in the cold winters of Chicago and later in the sun soaked cities of southern California, where he excelled in a variety of high school science courses and ultimately earned a scholarship for his exceptional talents in physics on through his professional career as a gaming guru, and ultimately to his amazing success in a stock market-centered career, where he would take his knowledge and understanding of games of chance and apply it to the biggest casino in the world, Wall StreetA Man for All Marketschronicles Thorps personal journey in navigating the unexpected and sometimes dangerous obstacles that come along with challenging the status quo of a wealthy corporate adversary.

-- Nicholas G. Colon, Professional Advantage Gambler and Managing Director of Alea Consulting Group, a casino gaming consulting firm

Illuminating for the mathematically inclined, and cautionary for would-be gamblers and day traders.

* Library Journal *

The kind of thing any would-be investor, to say nothing of casino cowboy, ought to read. Thorps in-the-trenches account of gaming the system(s) is a pleasure and instructive, too.

* Kirkus *

Author Bio

Edward O Thorp is the New York Times bestselling author of Beat the Dealer and a former professor of mathematics at MIT, UCLA and the University of California, Irvine. He lives in Orange County, California.