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A Man for All Markets

From Las Vegas to Wall Street, How I Beat the Dealer and the Market

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A Man for All Markets

Written by: Edward O. Thorp, Nassim Nicholas Taleb - introduction
Narrated by: Edward O. Thorp
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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 the seemingly impossible: that you could beat the dealer at the blackjack table. As a result he launched a gambling renaissance. His remarkable success—and mathematically unassailable method—caused such an uproar that casinos altered the rules of the game to thwart him and the legions he inspired. They barred him from their premises, even 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 we live in today. Along the way, the so-called godfather of the quants played bridge with Warren Buffett, crossed swords with a young Rudy Giuliani, detected the Bernie Madoff scheme, and, to beat the game of roulette, invented, with Claude Shannon, the world’s first wearable computer.

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.

Includes a PDF of appendices from the book.

Praise for A Man for All Markets

“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.”—The Wall Street Journal

“[Thorp] gives a biological summation (think Richard Feynman’s Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!) of his quest to prove the aphorism ‘the house always wins’ is flawed. . . . Illuminating for the mathematically inclined, and cautionary for would-be gamblers and day traders”—Library Journal Business Economics Investing & Trading Personal Finance Professionals & Academics Investing Mathematics Wall Street Inspiring Thought-Provoking Banking Game Stock Wisdom Biography Stock Market History
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I ended up purchasing the physical book, because I believe the content is priceless! I highly reccomend.

This is a great read!

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I was upset when it’s ended. I was listening on my way to and from work and did not want to arrive at my destination. Very frank story that invokes thoughts about meaning of life and how you approach it.

Great story

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This book is 100% deserving of 5/5. Great story, tons of useful information, it's entertaining and insightful. Great perspective on the markets from many angles and everything is easy to digest. This is an easy read/listen with huge value.

Excellent

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As a Financial Mathematics student at Wilfrid Laurier University. This book contains manny parallels to course material. It is a fantastic resource of background knowledge and will give anyone an appreciation to theorems and formulas used in class and learning settings. I highly recommend this book to anyone with some academic background as concepts might be hard to understand without some prior knowledge of mathematics or finance. But it can be easily understood if carefully went through.

An intellectual journey

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This is a fantastic novel that is inspiring and thought-provoking. It’s one that I’ll reflect on for a while

Brialliamt

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