Playing Games and Beating the Odds
I recently (January 2018) read A Man for all Markets, a new book by Edward O. Thorp. The reason I knew about Ed is because I read his book, Beat the Dealer, published way back in 1962! Beat the Dealer tells how to win at blackjack using card-counting techniques.
I used some version of Ed’s method off and on for a number of years in Las Vegas and Reno. I never won much money with it but I had a lot of fun. One time when my brother and I were passing through Reno we stopped for 20 minutes so I could play blackjack. I won a few bucks and then we went on our way. Because of that I was a lifetime winner in Reno for many years, until my wife and I went there with our son when he turned 21 so he could try his skill. My wife and I also eloped to Reno to get married, but we weren’t there long enough for me to lose any money. Instead, we went on to the great national parks and played with the bears.
One time I pulled an all-nighter in Las Vegas. I wasn’t betting enough to scare the house—or so I thought—but for some reason they placed a house man in the seat beside me. He didn’t use much subterfuge. He was betting with special house chips and never busted. I’m not sure what his purpose was but at least they didn’t kick me out of the casino. Another time I was kicked off a table so that a drunken high-roller could bet five hands at once. I watched in awe as he lost about $20,000 in 20 minutes. The woman with him said, “Let him play. He won that money earlier.” Well, okay, but Ed would have disapproved.
A Man for all Markets talks about Ed’s career, which includes not only winning at gambling games but also in the stock market—to the tune of nine figures. (See my review on Goodreads.com) He was really good at math and using computers. I’ve never met him, but he once lived very close to where I live before I lived here (he lives in Newport Beach, CA now), and was even a grad student at UCLA when I was there as an undergrad.
I’ve played games all my life, not only card games but others as well, such as backgammon. I play backgammon mostly online against individuals unknown and hold my own. I’ve played in a few tournaments, mostly because I know Patrick Gibson who has been in charge of the Los Angeles tournaments for many years, but even playing at the novice level (meaning much lower than the world-class players who compete in the expert divisions) I’ve never won a penny.
In 1962 my brother, Steve, and I saw a movie called Last Year at Marienbad. In it a man plays a game using cards (you can also use beer bottles or toothpicks or even elephants). He deals rows of 7, 5, 3 and 1 and challenges other people to take one or more cards from a single row. He alternates turns with his opponent. The person who takes the last card loses (although you can also play that the person who takes the last card wins—almost the same strategy), and of course the hustler in the movie always wins.
After the movie, Steve, who is a world-class mathematician, and I figured out how to win with that configuration. Years later, Steve told me the general rule for winning with any configuration. I also found out that the game is called nim, and I’ve used it in some of my novels, especially the Carol Golden novels because Carol is a mathematician and a game player.
Okay, so I’m not a world-class mathematician (or even backgammon player) but I am a world-class nim player. You’ll find that out if you ever challenge me to a game.
I used some version of Ed’s method off and on for a number of years in Las Vegas and Reno. I never won much money with it but I had a lot of fun. One time when my brother and I were passing through Reno we stopped for 20 minutes so I could play blackjack. I won a few bucks and then we went on our way. Because of that I was a lifetime winner in Reno for many years, until my wife and I went there with our son when he turned 21 so he could try his skill. My wife and I also eloped to Reno to get married, but we weren’t there long enough for me to lose any money. Instead, we went on to the great national parks and played with the bears.
One time I pulled an all-nighter in Las Vegas. I wasn’t betting enough to scare the house—or so I thought—but for some reason they placed a house man in the seat beside me. He didn’t use much subterfuge. He was betting with special house chips and never busted. I’m not sure what his purpose was but at least they didn’t kick me out of the casino. Another time I was kicked off a table so that a drunken high-roller could bet five hands at once. I watched in awe as he lost about $20,000 in 20 minutes. The woman with him said, “Let him play. He won that money earlier.” Well, okay, but Ed would have disapproved.
A Man for all Markets talks about Ed’s career, which includes not only winning at gambling games but also in the stock market—to the tune of nine figures. (See my review on Goodreads.com) He was really good at math and using computers. I’ve never met him, but he once lived very close to where I live before I lived here (he lives in Newport Beach, CA now), and was even a grad student at UCLA when I was there as an undergrad.
I’ve played games all my life, not only card games but others as well, such as backgammon. I play backgammon mostly online against individuals unknown and hold my own. I’ve played in a few tournaments, mostly because I know Patrick Gibson who has been in charge of the Los Angeles tournaments for many years, but even playing at the novice level (meaning much lower than the world-class players who compete in the expert divisions) I’ve never won a penny.
In 1962 my brother, Steve, and I saw a movie called Last Year at Marienbad. In it a man plays a game using cards (you can also use beer bottles or toothpicks or even elephants). He deals rows of 7, 5, 3 and 1 and challenges other people to take one or more cards from a single row. He alternates turns with his opponent. The person who takes the last card loses (although you can also play that the person who takes the last card wins—almost the same strategy), and of course the hustler in the movie always wins.
After the movie, Steve, who is a world-class mathematician, and I figured out how to win with that configuration. Years later, Steve told me the general rule for winning with any configuration. I also found out that the game is called nim, and I’ve used it in some of my novels, especially the Carol Golden novels because Carol is a mathematician and a game player.
Okay, so I’m not a world-class mathematician (or even backgammon player) but I am a world-class nim player. You’ll find that out if you ever challenge me to a game.
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