A review by lukewhitestone
Fortune's Formula: The Untold Story of the Scientific Betting System That Beat the Casinos and Wall Street by William Poundstone

4.0

Kind of a peculiar book, but quite good. I was much more into the first half, which did an excellent job weaving the stories of gangsters, Bell Labs geniuses (Claude Shannon and John Kelly) and the people at their intersection (Ed Thorpe). The treatment of the math is also quite well done, a shade more technical than you'd expect from a mainstream nonfiction book, which I think is the right amount for a non textbook (often books shy *away* from math, which can detract from certain subjects). I learned a lot about the history of mathematical thought around gambling in the 20th century, and it was cool to learn more about aspects of probability and risk management.

The book lost me a little in the second half. Part of it was I wasn't as interested in the financial applications of the Kelly Criterion, but I wasn't *disinterested* either. Rather I think the story got too muddled by that point. Too many characters and not enough flow or intrigue. The Rudy Giuliani part was interesting, as was LTCM, but beyond that I felt the book was too unfocused. If you're into post-1980 financial stories about risk you might get more out of it than I did.

Overall very good, and I might refer back to this book now and again. 4 stars.