Fortune's Formula: The Untold Story of the Scientific Betting System That Beat the Casinos and Wall Street

In 1956 two Bell Labs scientists discovered the scientific formula for getting rich. One was mathematician Claude Shannon, neurotic father of our digital age, whose genius is ranked with Einstein?s. The other was John L. Kelly Jr., a Texas-born, gun-toting physicist. Together they applied the science of 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 Las Vegas. It worked. They realized that there was even more money to be made in the stock market. Thorp used the Kelly system with his phenomenonally successful hedge fund, Princeton-Newport Partners. Shannon became a successful investor, too, topping even Warren Buffett?s rate of return. Fortune?s Formula traces how the Kelly formula sparked controversy even as it made fortunes at racetracks, casinos, and trading desks. It reveals the dark side of this alluring scheme, which is founded on exploiting an insider?s edge.

Shannon believed it was possible for a smart investor to beat the market?and Fortune?s Formula will convince you that he was right.

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ProductReviews84/100 (60 Reviews)

Recent Reviews

5/5: From: Amazon; Posted: Nov-23-2008; Enjoyable and inspiring tale; It might be a matter of personal taste, since I've found other reviewers with exactly the opposite opinion, but I really enjoyed the book and, given the fact that English is not my first language, it can't be possibly be written as badly...; read full review | report as inappropriate

5/5: From: Amazon; Posted: Oct-06-2008; Book review; Good book. I enjoyed it.Especially good for those interested in the Kelly criterion and all the people along the way who wanted to maximise gambling profit or investment profit.; read full review | report as inappropriate

5/5: From: Amazon; Posted: Aug-28-2008; Entertaining; Book was more than I expected. Tied in many stories dating back to the early 1900's and the beginning of AT&T. Excellent read, very entertaining and well researched.; read full review | report as inappropriate

5/5: From: Amazon; Posted: Jun-25-2008; It takes exceptionally smart people to make truly massive blunders; This book is a concise look at the evolution of formal investment theory, with continual contextual references to its ties to gambling and to organized crime. It also is a hilarious and insightful history of gambling from the Bernoulli's...; read full review | report as inappropriate

Selected Reviews

5/5: From: Amazon; Posted: Nov-23-2008; Enjoyable and inspiring tale; It might be a matter of personal taste, since I've found other reviewers with exactly the opposite opinion, but I really enjoyed the book and, given the fact that English is not my first language, it can't be possibly be written as badly...; read full review | report as inappropriate

3/5: From: Amazon; Posted: May-29-2008; OK, but not great; Having just finished Poundstone's book on Gaming the Vote, I was hoping for a book equally as interesting. Although this book was worth reading, and there are a few aspects from it that I will put into practice, I did not walk away...; read full review | report as inappropriate

2/5: From: Amazon; Posted: Apr-18-2007; Hard to Stick With, but Interesting True Story; I'm not a trader, or a scientist, or a mathematician which this book seems to be geared towards. I'm just an average reader who thought this information would be an interesting, casual read. Much of the information was interesting;...; read full review | report as inappropriate