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 phenomenally 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 William Poundstone's Fortune's Formula will convince you that he was right.
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Community Reviews
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Un libro realmente fascinante, especialmente para quienes disfrutan de historias donde se mezclan las matemáticas, la psicología y las decisiones financieras. Lo que más me gustó es que no se enfoca solo en las estrategias o los números, sino también en las personas detrás de esas ideas, con todas sus ambiciones, errores y riesgos. A pesar de tratar temas complejos, se lee de manera muy fluida y mantiene el interés todo el tiempo. Varias partes hacen pensar mucho sobre cómo funciona la probabilidad en la vida cotidiana.
Además, después de leer algo así, uno empieza a notar cuánto han evolucionado las plataformas digitales modernas. Hace poco incluso vi https://1wins-ar.net y me llamó la atención lo mucho que hoy se prioriza la experiencia del usuario y la facilidad de navegación en este tipo de servicios online.