Cover of Fortune's Formula

Fortune's Formula

The Untold Story of the Scientific Betting System That Beat the Casinos and Wall Street

by William Poundstone · first published 2005

42mentions
32recommended by
37HN commenters
2008–2026first – last mentioned

86% recommend14% neutral

Why HN recommends it

Readable, entertaining account of the Kelly criterion through the lives of Claude Shannon and Ed Thorp, from blackjack and casinos to Wall Street. Suits readers wanting biography and math without textbook density.

Summarised by Claude from recommending comments

Economics & Finance

This book is about Kelly's criterion developed in 1956 by two scientists (John Kelly Jr. and Claude Shannon) at Bell Labs for the transmission of information over copper wires but who immediately realized its application to gaming and investing. Many more professional gamblers used the formula than investors. One investor Edward Thorpe used it both to beat the casino's and as a hedge fund manager to beat the market. THE FORMULA does not tell one how to find edge but once one does the formula indicates how much one should bet to maximize the creation of wealth. Be warned that the use of a full

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View on Open LibraryISBN 0809045990

Mentions per year

50 2007: 0 mentions2008: 1 mention2009: 1 mention2010: 4 mentions2011: 2 mentions2012: 1 mention2013: 0 mentions2014: 2 mentions2015: 1 mention2016: 3 mentions2017: 1 mention2018: 4 mentions2019: 4 mentions2020: 4 mentions2021: 5 mentions2022: 3 mentions2023: 2 mentions2024: 2 mentions2025: 0 mentions2026: 1 mention200720172026

What Hacker News says

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