A Man for All Markets

Review A Man for All Markets: From Las Vegas to Wall Street, How I Beat the Dealer and the Market

by EDWARD O. THORP

Description 

Having experienced the Great Depression, author and mathematician Edward O. Thorp formulated a method of card counting in which a seemingly impossible act of defeating the dealer becomes possible, making the whole blackjack game an easy win. Through his ways, he started and launched a gambling revolution. His laudable success in the field of gambling through impalpable mathematical methodologies sparked attention to the point that casinos revised and rewired their gameplay in order to thwart him and others that followed his footsteps. As a consequence, casinos banned him, all while putting so much jeopardy in his life. Though this did not end well on his side, he was the man who changed games and challenged the tricky gambling system. That is his legacy. 

After doing so, Thorp eyed a larger prospect: Wall Street. Through his mathematical devices and formulas, he administered powerful methods and continued to pursue quantitative finance that is very much practiced up to date. This book is an exposition of his personal life and the necessary steps that took him to success. Narrated using an inspirational voice, Thorp presented his passions, curiosities, and powerful drive to arrive at a solution for seemingly hard problems. A Man for All Markets is a classic that challenges readers to look differently and rationalize matters that persist in and out of our understanding. 

About the Author 

Edward O. Thorp became famous from his revolutionary book titled Beat the Dealer. It presents formula and methods on how to ace the blackjack game through card counting. As a follow-up, he published the 1967 Beat the Market that exposes how markets could be negotiated and beaten. 

Thorp has a Ph.D. bestowed by the University of California, and he worked at MIT for two years. He endeavored in the academic field by teaching mathematics and finance at the University of California.  

Table of Contents 

Cover 

Title Page

Copyright

Preface

Foreword 

1. Loving to Learn
2. Science Is my Playground
3. Physics and Mathematics
4. Las Vegas
5. Conquering Blackjack
6. The Day of the Lamb
7. Card Counting for Everyone
8. Players Versus Casinos
9. A Computer That Predicts Roulette
10. An Edge at Other Gambling Games
11. Wall Street: The Greatest Casino on Earth 
12. Bridge With Buffett
13. Going into Partnership
14. Front-Running the Quantitative Revolution
15. Rise…
16. …And Fall
17. Period of Adjustment
18. Swindles and Hazards
19. Buying Low, Selling High
20. Backing the Truck Up to the Banks 
21. One Last Puff
22. Hedging Your Bets 
23. How Rich Is Rich?
24. Compund Growth: The Eighth Wonder of the World
25. Beat Most Investors by Indexing
26. Can You Beat the Market? Should You Try?
27. Asset Allocation and Wealth Management
28. Giving Back
29. Financial Crises: Lessons Not Learned
30. Thoughts 

Epilogue

• Appendix A: The Impact of Inflation on the Dollar
• Appendix B: Historical Returns 
• Appendix C: The Rule of 72 and More
• Appendix D: Performance of Princeton Newport Partners, LP
• Appendix E: Our Statistical Arbitrage Results for a Fortune 100 Company

Photo Insert

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Notes

Bibliography

By Edward O. Thorp

About the Author