In 1986 a guy got kicked out of every casino in Vegas for counting cards. So he flew to Hong Kong with $180,000 and started betting on horses instead. He walked away with almost $900 million.
It's Bill Benter. He figured horse racing was just another counting problem. Same math, more moving parts.
He and a partner showed up with $180k and a computer. Benter spent years teaching that computer to guess one thing, the real chance each horse had to win. If his number was better than the odds the bookies gave, he bet. If not, he skipped it.
That's the whole trick. Expected value.
EV = p · b − (1 − p)
Only bet when your win chance p, at odds b, is worth more than your chance of losing.
This recording was never meant to be some hidden gem. Nobody expected Professor Tsitsiklis to hand the whole foundation away in 45 minutes, but that's exactly what happens on the board. Students in that room pay over $80,000 a year to sit through it. It's free right here. It's free right here.
Every quant, every professional bettor, every hedge fund analyst started with this exact hour. Benter just watched it and actually did the homework.
Almost nobody knows this lecture even exists. Watch it before it gets taken down.
The answer is in this video.