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A Man for All Markets: From Las Vegas to Wall Street, How I Beat the Dealer and the Market Hardcover – January 24, 2017

4.5 out of 5 stars 2,642 ratings

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.

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
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“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

“So entertaining . . . pretty wonderful . . . Thorp’s manner of thinking and doing . . . is an inspiration in these confused times.”
—Bloomberg.com

“[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

“[
A Man for All Markets is] the kind of thing any would-be investor, to say nothing of casino cowboy, ought to read. Thorp’s in-the-trenches account of gaming the system(s) is a pleasure—and instructive, too.”Kirkus Reviews

“An amazing book by a true icon . . . Edward O. 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

“Whether you are an aspiring professional player, a casual gambler, or an occasional visitor to Las Vegas, you can feel the impact of Edward O. Thorp’s intellect on that desert city. In 1962, Thorp published the classic book 
Beat the Dealer. The text was based on Thorp’s original research that stemmed from his curiosity about the game of 21 and was billed as a how-to book for the layperson to beat the casinos at blackjack. Simply stated, it changed everything. A Man for All Markets chronicles Thorp’s 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, Alea Consulting Group

“What a CV! Figure out how to win at blackjack using card counting? Check. Build the world’s first wearable computer? Check. Find the formula for valuing financial options but use it to make money rather than win a Nobel Prize? Check. This book is in part the gripping story of how one man’s genius and dedication has solved so many problems in diverse fields. But more important, it’s a fascinating insight into the thought processes of someone with little interest in fame, who has mostly stayed under the radar, yet who has followed his inquisitive mind wherever it has led him, and reaped the resulting rewards. There is nothing more important than knowing how to think clearly. Read this book and learn from a master.”
—Paul Wilmott, founder, Wilmott magazine

About the Author

Edward O. Thorp is the author of the bestseller Beat the Dealer, which transformed the game of blackjack. His subsequent book, Beat the Market, co-authored with Sheen T. Kassouf, influenced securities markets around the globe. Thorp is one of the world’s best blackjack players andinvestors, and his hedge funds were profitable every year for twenty-nine years. He lives in Newport Beach, California.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Random House
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 24, 2017
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ First Edition
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 416 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1400067960
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1400067961
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.46 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.31 x 1.33 x 9.54 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 out of 5 stars 2,642 ratings

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Edward O. Thorp
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Edward O Thorp is widely known as the author of the 1962 Beat the Dealer, which was the first book to prove mathematically that blackjack could be beaten by card counting, and the 1967 Beat the Market, which showed how warrant option markets could be priced and beaten. He is regarded as one of the best hedge fund managers in the world. He is also regarded as the co-inventor of the first wearable computer along with Claude Shannon. Thorp received his PhD from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1958 and worked at MIT from 1959 to 1961. He was a professor of mathematics from 1965 to 1977 and a professor of mathematics and finance from 1977 to 1982 at the University of California, Irvine.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
2,642 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book well-written and engaging, with good insights and life lessons throughout. Moreover, they describe it as a captivating memoir about a remarkable individual, and one customer notes it's a textbook in how to think and invest. However, the pacing receives mixed reviews, with some finding it understandable while others describe it as lacking substance.

109 customers mention "Readability"107 positive2 negative

Customers find the book well written and fun to read, with one customer noting it's a must-read for market and math enthusiasts.

"...It’s dense, it’s detailed, it’s engagingly written, it’s a lot of fun to read and it’s full of valuable information...." Read more

"...I really enjoyed reading this book, it does contain a lot of useful material which we can apply to our lives...." Read more

"The author is brilliant and offers his story along with lessons learned and advice that is relevant even today, or rather, especially today...." Read more

"...Gives life's lessons in a rational framework. Entertaining, concise, and enlightening. I'd enjoy meeting this man . Would recommend." Read more

87 customers mention "Information quality"79 positive8 negative

Customers find the book informative, providing valuable insights and life lessons, with one customer noting it serves as a textbook on how to think and invest.

"...for Thorp’s extraordinary success to realize that he was very good with people and formed valuable friendships with knowledgeable and gifted persons..." Read more

"...I really enjoyed reading this book, it does contain a lot of useful material which we can apply to our lives...." Read more

"This is the best autobiography I have read. It combines history with human emotion and practical lessons learned...." Read more

"The author is brilliant and offers his story along with lessons learned and advice that is relevant even today, or rather, especially today...." Read more

57 customers mention "Story quality"57 positive0 negative

Customers find the book's story captivating and engaging, with many interesting anecdotes and noteworthy life lessons throughout.

"“A Man for All Markets” is at its core a captivating memoir on how Professor Thorp managed to acquire a fortune estimated at around $800-million...." Read more

"...The life of the Edward was quite interesting, and full of ups and downs – but in the end it turn out be everything good...." Read more

"This is the best autobiography I have read. It combines history with human emotion and practical lessons learned...." Read more

"The author is brilliant and offers his story along with lessons learned and advice that is relevant even today, or rather, especially today...." Read more

45 customers mention "Intelligence"42 positive3 negative

Customers appreciate the author's intelligence, describing him as a very interesting and remarkable person, with one customer noting it as a great biography about a true renaissance man.

"...away very disappointed in this book - Thorp is a brilliant, brilliant individual who has contributed significantly to numerous fields - but most of..." Read more

"The book gives a good detail of his life, but focuses mostly on his mathematical, gambling, and investment adventures and work...." Read more

"...Edward Thorp is a fascinating genius...." Read more

"...of Edward Thorpe's life to current day and really focuses in on his intellectual achievements...." Read more

29 customers mention "Pacing"17 positive12 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the pacing of the book, with some finding it understandable and detailed enough for math-oriented readers, while others find it tedious and lacking substance.

"...Gives life's lessons in a rational framework. Entertaining, concise, and enlightening. I'd enjoy meeting this man . Would recommend." Read more

"...It was the opposite. The writing is unbearably dry and somehow he makes even the story about his brakes being cut and narrowly escaping..." Read more

"...enough to scare most readers away, but detailed enough to interest more math oriented readers...." Read more

"...minimum wage earnings, requires substantial training, and is painfully tedious...." Read more

Exciting and broad
4 out of 5 stars
Exciting and broad
I picked up this book based on Nassim Nicholas Taleb's recommendation and I enjoyed the first part, an autobiographical account with stories ranging from childhood curiosity to adventurous expeditions to casinos and what I consider to be a more slightly more analytical approach (the book is not technical) about financial markets and some superficial examples of hedging strategies and arbitrage. For someone who is seeking intelectual improvement in Finance this book provides a enthusiastic collection of insights.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2017
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    “A Man for All Markets” is at its core a captivating memoir on how Professor Thorp managed to acquire a fortune estimated at around $800-million. It’s dense, it’s detailed, it’s engagingly written, it’s a lot of fun to read and it’s full of valuable information. I would love to have read the chapters on markets some years ago when I was an active trader. I’d have made a lot more money!

    How did he do it? “Education,” he explains in a later chapter.

    He either taught himself or he learned from others. Indeed Chapter 1 is entitled “Loving to Learn.” He began as a poor boy in Lomita, California delivering newspapers in the morning and in the afternoon. He got into UCLA and graduated with a degree in physics and then went on to grad school to study mathematics. He became fascinated with challenges, most famously with the gambling card game, blackjack or twenty-one. He devised a point count system that, coupled with his ability to remember cards, allowed him to beat the casinos at their own game.

    And then he wrote a bestselling book, “Beat the Dealer” showing others how it could be done. I read that book when it came out in the early Sixties and was fascinated. Because my memory is only average I ended up playing poker instead of blackjack--but that’s another story.

    Following up on his success at twenty-one, Thorp, along with Claude Shannon, designed and built a mechanical and electrical device that allowed them to gain an advantage in roulette by predicting with some proficiency approximately where the bouncing ball would end up. That was quite a coup especially considering that it happened fifty-some years ago.

    This takes us through the first ten chapters. Then in Chapter 11: “Wall Street: The Greatest Casino on Earth” Thorp turns his attention to the financial markets. The titles of the next 14 chapters not only outline the story but could serve as something like a syllabus for a graduate course in investing. Viz., “Front-Running, The Quantitative Revolution, Swindles and Hazards, Buying Low, Selling High, Hedging Your Bets, Compound Growth, Beat Most Investors by Indexing, Asset Allocation and Wealth Management, etc.”

    There’s an illuminating chapter on financial crises and lessons not learned. Thorp concludes with Chapter 30 “Thoughts,” which I found fascinating. There are also five appendices, three on inflation and the dollar, historical returns, and the performance of his fantastically successful hedge fund, Princeton Newport Partners.

    I think it is important in accounting for Thorp’s extraordinary success to realize that he was very good with people and formed valuable friendships with knowledgeable and gifted persons including the afore-mentioned Claude Shannon, Warren Buffet and others. Additionally, his curiosity and love of challenges took him places others couldn’t go. Finally, there was the loving support of his very talented wife, Vivian. If I were giving out advice on how to be successful in this world I would say first pick your spouse wisely.

    Also, Thorp was thrifty. On page 86 we learn that when he was playing blackjack in Las Vegas he would call his wife collect and to save money would ask for “’Edward __ Thorp,’ the middle initial being a code we had devised to tell how many thousands of dollars we were ahead or, if the initial came before ‘Edward,’ how many behind…” “After hearing the name of the person being called, Vivian would politely tell the operator that Mr. Thorp ‘wasn’t here at the moment.’”

    I think it is a good lesson to understand that not only is a penny saved a penny earned but it’s worth more than that because what’s saved is untaxed and the money can be invested. Thorp elaborates on the value of thrift in building wealth elsewhere in the book especially on page 269.

    I want to say that I have a personal affinity for both this book and its author because of some similarities in the lives we have led. For those interested see my recently published memoir “If I Had Been a Better Man.”

    Okay now for some tidbits from the amazing professor of gambling and markets.

    “Joseph Heller and Kurt Vonnegut were at a party given by a billionaire…Vonnegut asked Heller how it felt to know that their host might have made more money in one day than Heller’s “Catch-22” since it was written.” Heller replied that “he had something the rich man could never have.” Vonnegut wondered what that might be, and Heller answered, “The knowledge that I’ve got enough.” (p. 213)

    Thorp actually discovered in 1991 that Bernie Madoff’s trades were fakes and that he was running a Ponzi scheme. See pages 213-219.

    A joke: “…pronounced MADE-off, as in “with your money.” (p. 217)

    If you haven’t heard of the so-called “secretary/marriage problem” in math turn to page 224. The problem is when to say yes to get the best candidate. Once you say no you usually don’t get another chance and you may find the remaining candidates not as good. On the other hand, if you say yes too soon you might miss the best choice.

    Thorp’s answer to high frequency trading: “a small federal tax…a few cents a share…” (p. 231)

    On the crisis in funding for the California university system: “To starve education is to eat our seed corn. No tax today, no technology tomorrow.” (p. 341)

    --Dennis Littrell, author of “The World Is Not as We Think It Is”
    52 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2018
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    Read full summary of this book on my blog: imeducatingmyself.com/a-man-for-all-markets-from-las-vegas-to-wall-street-how-i-beat-the-dealer-and-the-market-by-edward-o-thorp-book-review

    The life of the Edward was quite interesting, and full of ups and downs – but in the end it turn out be everything good. I really enjoyed reading this book, it does contain a lot of useful material which we can apply to our lives.

    I bought this book because was interested to learn about Edward’s investing strategy. And there are useful material when it comes to investing, but it’s not for absolute beginners. If you don’t know anything about investing, than you might find this book a bit confusing. I like how he played the both sides of investing; buying and shorting stocks. Even though I have to say that I’m not a fan of shorting stocks, it does require a lot of analysis and experience to get it right; I’ve done it couple of times, and it didn’t turn right for me.

    But in the end, since he had been in contact with Warren Buffett, he does apply the long-term value investing. And when you go through a lot of methods of trading, majority of investors would agree that this is the best way. But, nevertheless, it does require a lot of research and investigating about particular stock(s) in which you are going for the long-term.

    I wasn’t very interested in that part of the book that talks about Blackjack, because I’m not interested in playing cards, or anything similar. If you are someone who is interested in cards, you can find useful information on how Edward developed his card counting method.

    One thing about the gambling I like that, he didn’t end up addicted to gambling, and it didn’t destroyed his family. That is very important that he knew when to stop playing and move to something else. It was successful experiment, and that was all.

    One thing that got me, positively of course, is his life with Vivian. The greatest thing that can happen to anyone is to have great life companion. Of course, I believe that they’ve had some problems, that is normal – but overall, everything went well for a long time. And from that I conclude that two great minds can make a lot of things possible.

    This book is also good for those who are looking to motivate them self in life. Maybe your’re not interested in card ( I know I’m not), nor investing, but just getting through the book and getting familiar with Edward’s life, and how he was determined to succeed in life – I know my motivation was raising up reading the book.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2025
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    This is the best autobiography I have read. It combines history with human emotion and practical lessons learned. It also provides a cliffs notes of understanding concepts in science, mathematics, finance and economics.
    Ed writes in an authentic and unapologetic manner
  • Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2025
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    The author is brilliant and offers his story along with lessons learned and advice that is relevant even today, or rather, especially today.
    Worth the read for those who interact with the financial world.
  • Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2025
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    Much more than an investment
    book. Gives life's lessons in a
    rational framework. Entertaining, concise, and enlightening. I'd enjoy meeting this man . Would recommend.

Top reviews from other countries

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  • Mag
    5.0 out of 5 stars All seasons indeed!
    Reviewed in Australia on March 24, 2017
    Love the book, in awe of what Ed has done. Easy read too.
  • Wouter Gazendam
    5.0 out of 5 stars Very good book
    Reviewed in the Netherlands on March 30, 2017
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    Mr Thorp writes very engaging. He reminds me of Richard Feynman; he looks at the world with an open and scientific view. Added with a bit of mischief.
  • Francesco
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great autobiography
    Reviewed in Italy on August 22, 2020
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Literally everything you could desire in an autobiography.
    Really enjoyed Thorp's point of views on a variety of topics.
    Amazing
  • Cliente Amazon
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excelente livro”
    Reviewed in Brazil on May 26, 2024
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    Um livro instigante. Leitura não muito fácil.
    Report
  • Tobias K.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Gain new insights into investing and gambling
    Reviewed in Germany on May 23, 2021
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    I have read quite a few books on investing, finance, its history and especially the financial crisis of 2007-08. Nevertheless did this book make it into the top five of my favorites.

    Edward Thorp has a very quantative and rational mind yet tells his story in a very interesting way, that leads to the book being read in a great flow.

    For someone with some experience in the field, not everything was new information, but it was still nice to be inspired to think about these constructs again.

    I really enjoyed the dive into the world of gambling, that the author exploited. Making a link between gambling and investing were new thoughts for me, which can help investors making better decisions whilst looking for edges.

    I will recommend this book to friends.