A Man for All Markets

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

By: Edward O. Thorp, Nassim Nicholas Taleb - foreword

Narrated by: Edward O. Thorp

Length: 16 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2017 Edward O. Thorp (P)2017 Random House Audio

Critic 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 best-selling 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)

A life of a genius

What made the experience of listening to A Man for All Markets the most enjoyable?

Personally I enjoyed the story because I relate to the author and his views on how to live a fulfilling life. From his youth he has been educating himself in science and math, improving himself, understanding how the world works. This man did not limit himself to one ambition or one career or one goal. He learned how science explains the physical world around us, how mathematical patters can predict all kinds of scenarios that seem random to most of us. I added Edward Thorp to my list of successful, rich geeks like Howard Hughes, Elon Musk, and Bill Gates. His story is an inspiration.

What did you like best about this story?

The author's intelligent approach to success.

Have you listened to any of Edward O. Thorp’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

After listening to this book I wanted to learn more about this genius that I never heard of before. I listed to some of his interviews.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

The fist half yes, I wanted to keep listening and enjoyed every bit of it. The second part dealing with finance takes more time to digest some times so it's better to pause otherwise a lot of good information just blends and mixes together and gets forgotten.

Any additional comments?

This book makes you want to be smart and successful. Even though the author is a born genius, he provides a lesson that education and ambition go hand in hand on the road to success. You have to improve yourself in order to get what you want in life.

Many sound lessons

Many good lessons can be learned from Thorp's interesting career and family.

Although he's a "science" oriented thinker, his Warren Buffet hero worship is a little ridiculous. He tells the usual and mostly accurate 2008 crisis etiology. He criticizes those who caused the crisis and received direct government bailout money. But he conveniently omits Warren Buffet's role with AIG which received the largest bailout of them all. If AIG hadn't received the TBTF money, Buffet's current reputation as a wise/prudent investor wouldn't be as described in this book.

Other than that, it's a good read.

Loved it

Loved the book. Edward O. Thorpe has lived quite an amazing life. 84 years young he narrates it directly. You are able to sense both his passion, humanity and his intensely rational mind. Loved it.

Thorpe's thoughts

I thoroughly appreciated Thorpe's thoughts and experiences. but often bristled at his cherry picking of random examples to prove and disprove contentions... which is not surprising given his academic background... it's the sort of white lying that academics are smirkingly comfortable with.

inspirational story of a great man

loved the way Edward narrated the story and it gave me a ton of inspiration to get ahead in life regardless hardships.

Great story narrated by the great man himself

Ed Thorp is a perfect example of self made man. It is story of following the principles, consistency, independent thinking and perseverance, full of useful insights for all of us.

Must Read For Traders

Absolutely loved Thorpes storytelling and how everything from his childhood to collegent to gambling tied into investing.

This guy was amazing

Well written and well told story of the nature of human hypocracy, greed and envy. Told through a story of academia, Las Vegas and Wall Street. Time after time Thorpe is set back by each of these systems by those who have power and fear the loss of control insomuch as to corrupt the systems they work in. Thorpe has given us a process, point of view and several methods for navigating this world with its fiends, liars and cheats. Which you will encounter in every Industry you search. Maintain your integrity and pass on the knowledge, skills and good faith to the following generation. They will be picking up the sword that keeps you well in you old age.

Excellent Work on Multiple Levels

Not the normal genre I would normally choose to listen to; however, so glad I did.

A sub standard performance sullies an otherwise interesting book.

This is the poorest reading performance I have yet encountered. The reader's style is totally distracting, honestly it sounds as if the book is being read by a fourth grader.