Guide to the Edward O. Thorp papers. MS.F.047

Finding aid prepared by Sarah Glover, 2018; updated by Sarah Glover, 2021.Updated by Gabrielle Wood, 2023.
Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine Libraries
(cc) 2023
The UCI Libraries
P.O. Box 19557
University of California, Irvine
Irvine 92623-9557
spcoll@uci.edu


Contributing Institution: Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine Libraries
Title: Edward O. Thorp papers
Identifier/Call Number: MS.F.047
Physical Description: 26.25 Linear Feet (23 records cartons, 3 flat boxes, 1 document box, 1 half-sized document box, 1 vinyl box, 1 audiovisual box)
Date (inclusive): 1946-2023
Abstract: This collection comprises the papers of Edward O. Thorp, American mathematics professor, hedge fund manager, blackjack player, and founding faculty member at the University of California, Irvine. The papers consist of scholarly and personal papers, including published and unpublished manuscripts, research and reference files, correspondence, records of professional activities, teaching materials, audiovisual materials, biographical materials, and publicity.
Language of Material: English .

Access

The collection is open for research. Access to original audio-visual material and digital media is restricted; researchers may request viewing or listening copies.

Publication Rights

Property rights reside with the University of California. Copyrights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permission to reproduce or to publish, please contact the University Archivist. Digital material is provided for private study, scholarship, or research. Transmission or reproduction of any material protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. The authors or their heirs retain their copyrights to the material. Contact the University of California, Irvine Libraries, Special Collections and Archives for more information (spcoll@uci.edu).

Preferred Citation

Edward O. Thorp papers. MS-F047. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California. [Date accessed].
For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information about sources consulted in this collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder descriptions, and box/folder locations.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Edward O. Thorp, 2018.

Processing History

Processed by Sarah Glover, 2018.

Biography

Edward Oakley Thorp is an American mathematics professor, hedge fund manager, and blackjack player.
Thorp was born in Chicago, Illinois on August 14, 1932. He received his bachelor's degree in physics from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1953, followed by a master's degree in 1955. He received his Ph.D. in mathematics, also from the UCLA, in 1958. He married his wife, Vivian (d. 2011), in January 1956 and together had three children, Raun, Karen, and Jeff.
Thorp began his academic career as a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 1959-1961. He transferred to New Mexico State University and taught mathematics until 1965. He then became a founding faculty member at the University of California, Irvine, where he taught mathematics from 1965 to 1977, and then became a professor of both mathematics and finance from 1977 to 1982.
During the time he was studying for his doctorate, Thorp became interested in the mathematics associated with gambling, specifically roulette. He continued using mathematics to unlock the secrets of gambling while teaching at MIT and became increasingly interested in blackjack. His theories caught the attention of "the father of information theory" and fellow mathematician and professor at MIT, Claude Shannon. In 1961, the two men created the first pocket-sized wearable computer for the purpose of advantage play for roulette, and later blackjack.
Thorp also developed multiple strategies for card-counting, which were detailed in his New York Times bestselling book, Beat the Dealer (1962). The book was the first to mathematically prove that the house advantage in blackjack could be overcome by card-counting. After the success of the book, it became increasingly difficult for Thorp to enter a casino without being spotted and ejected by security. Using money from book royalties and gambling winnings, he instead turned his attention to stock investing.
Working alongside Professor Sheen Kassouf, another founding faculty member at UCI, he developed hedged investment theory and techniques. This culminated in the book Beat the Market: A Scientific Stock Market System (1967), which had a major long-term impact on the world of investing. Two years later, Thorp and partner Jay Regan would launch the first market-neutral derivatives based hedge fund, known as Princeton Newport Partners (PNP). After Princeton Newport Partners liquidated, Thorp later regrouped as Edward O. Thorp & Associates.
Thorp is the author of six books and has written a wide range of academic papers on game theory, functional analysis, and probability, as well as an autobiography, A Man for All Markets: From Las Vegas to Wall Street, How I Beat the Dealer and the Market (2017), an extensive look at his life, from card counter to his career as an investor.
In 2002, Thorp was one of the original seven members inducted into the Blackjack Hall of Fame. The following year, Thorp and his wife donated $1 million to the University of California, Irvine, to attract promising mathematicians to the college.

Collection Scope and Content Summary

This collection comprises the professional and personal papers of Edward O. Thorp, which document his life and career as a mathematics professor, hedge fund manager, blackjack player, and founding faculty member at the University of California, Irvine. Materials range from his early life and biographical material, used as reference material for his autobiography A Man for All Markets: From Las Vegas to Wall Street, How I Beat the Dealer and the Market (2017), to his later endeavors as a hedge fund manager. All six of his books are documented in the collection as drafts or with publicity and reviews.
His career as a blackjack player and gambler is well documented in the collection through scholarly articles and columns written for gambling magazines such as Gambling Times and Blackjack Forum; research, publicity and articles about Thorp; and correspondence with major blackjack theorist Peter Griffin; game theorist Richard Epstein (also known as E. P. Stein); magician and gambling scholar Russell T. Barnhart, who went on a blackjack trip to Vegas with Thorp and Mickey MacDougall, an expert in protecting gamblers against cheating casinos. His career as a hedge fund manager and investor is equally well documented in the collection through scholarly articles and columns written for the mathematical finance magazine Wilmott, research, speaking engagements, publicity and articles about Thorp, and correspondence.
There is some material related to his academic career, mostly classes he taught as a professor at the University of California, Irvine. There is also a small amount of personal material in the collection. Throughout the collection there are notes written by Thorp from 2018 to explain the significance and further elaborate on the material. Although the collection comprises mostly paper records, there is some digital media and audio visual material.

Collection Arrangement

This collection is arranged in 5 series:
  1. Writings and research, 1946-2017. 14.5 linear feet
  2. Correspondence, 1961-2009. 3.5 linear feet
  3. Speaking engagements, 1981-2012. 2 linear feet
  4. About Thorp, 1959-2017. 4.25 linear feet
  5. Teaching materials, 1968-1991. 2 linear feet

Separation Note

The following publications were removed from this collection and cataloged separately: Wilmott, Gambling Times, Blackjack Review, RGE Catalog, The Computer Gambling Forum, Casino Verite Blackjack Tools, The Blackjack Formula, Blackjack Forum, Money Angles by Andrew Tobias, and books written by Thorp. These materials are searchable by title via our catalog on Library Search.

Appraisal Note

During processing the collection was reduced from 51.5 linear feet to 26.25 linear feet by removing duplicate materials and records containing sensitive information.

 

Writings and research Series 1. 1946-2017

Series Scope and Content Summary

This series documents Thorp's writing and research related to gambling, game theory, mathematical finance, functional analysis, probability and statistics, and other various topics. The series includes his writings and research for magazines such as Gambling Times, Blackjack Forum, Winning, and Wilmott; his autobiography A Man for All Markets: From Las Vegas to Wall Street, How I Beat the Dealer and the Market; scholarly articles and books. Many of the folders include related correspondence, notes, photographs, and audiovisual material.

Series Arrangement

The writings series is arranged in its original order. Some material was intellectually arranged by subseries.
 

Gambling Times articles Subseries 1.1 1978-1982

Subseries Scope and Content Summary

This subseries consists of drafts and copies of articles written by Ed Thorp for Gambling Times magazine, which was published by Stanley Roberts. He wrote two columns for the magazine: "The Mathematics of Gambling" and "Theory in Practice". The subseries also includes an index of the articles, notes, research for articles, and the original correspondence from "Letters from Readers". Some folders include correspondence, photographs and audio-visual material related to the articles.
box 1, folder 1

Index of articles circa 1982

box 1, folder 2

Letters from readers II - original letters 1979

box 1, folder 3-5

The Mathematics of Gambling: End Positions in Backgammon I-III 1978

box 1, folder 6

The Mathematics of Gambling: The World Championship of Blackjack 1978

box 1, folder 7-9

The Mathematics of Gambling: Systems for Roulette I-III 1978-1979

box 1, folder 10-12

The Mathematics of Gambling: Physical Prediction of Roulette I-III 1978-1979

box 1, folder 13

The Mathematics of Gambling: The Black and White Classic Invitational Backgammon Tournament 1979

box 1, folder 14

The Mathematics of Gambling: Backgammon Tournament Play, Game Theory Solves Experts' Puzzle 1979

box 1, folder 15

The Mathematics of Gambling: Physical Prediction of Roulette IV 1979

box 1, folder 16

The Mathematics of Gambling: Letters from Readers 1979

box 1, folder 17

The Mathematics of Gambling: The Kelly Money Management System 1979

box 1, folder 18

The Mathematics of Gambling: Letters from Readers II 1979-1980

box 1, folder 19

The Mathematics of Gambling: Getting Rich 1979-1980

box 1, folder 20

The Mathematics of Gambling: Blackjack - Beware the Short Shoe 1980

box 1, folder 21

The Mathematics of Gambling: Counting Every Card in the Deck 1980

box 1, folder 22

The Mathematics of Gambling: Roulette, The Dealer's Signature Fallacy 1980

box 1, folder 23

The Mathematics of Gambling: Cheating at Blackjack 1980

box 1, folder 24

The Mathematics of Gambling: Letters from Readers 1980

box 1, folder 25

The Mathematics of Gambling: Roulette and the Dealer's Signature II 1980

box 1, folder 26

Research: Roulette and the Dealers 1980

box 1, folder 27

The Mathematics of Gambling: The Loveboat 1980

box 1, folder 28

The Mathematics of Gambling: The Horse Hedge Method 1980

box 1, folder 29

Research 1980

box 1, folder 30

The Mathematics of Gambling: Blackjack with a Tenless Deck 1980-1981

box 1, folder 31

The Mathematics of Gambling: Joseph E. Granville, Prophet of Profits? 1981

box 1, folder 32

The Mathematics of Gambling: Granville Shakes the World I-III 1981

box 2, folder 1

Theory in Practice: Horse Racing and Letters 1981

box 2, folder 2-4

Theory in Practice: Granville at UC Irvine I-III 1981

box 2, folder 5

Theory in Practice: The House Take in the Options Market 1981

box 2, folder 6

A Favorable Strategy for Twenty-One 1982

box 2, folder 7

Theory in Practice: The Fifth Annual Gambling Conference 1982

box 2, folder 8

Theory in Practice: Wheel of Fortune and data 1982

box 18, folder 11

Physical Prediction of Roulette 1979

 

Mathematical finance Subseries 1.2 1960-2014

Subseries Scope and Content Summary

This subseries consists of drafts and copies of articles written by Ed Thorp on the topic of mathematical finance. Mathematical finance, also known as quantitative finance, is a field of applied mathematics concerned with mathematical modeling of financial markets. The subseries also includes notes, research, and some correspondence and photographs related to the articles and subject as a whole.
box 5, folder 4

Beat the Market, Random House, NY 1967-1970

box 5, folder 5-7

Portfolio Choice and the Kelly Criterion 1971-1974

box 5, folder 8

39th Session of the International Statistical Institute, Vienna, Austria 1973

box 5, folder 9

A Survey of Statistical Design and Linear Models 1973

box 5, folder 10

Stanford and University of California, Irvine letters 1972

box 5, folder 11

Strictly Concave Utilities are Distinguished by their Optimal Portfolios - draft 1974

box 5, folder 12-14

Concave Utilities are Distinguished by their Optimal Strategies - first version, drafts, relevant letters 1971-1974

box 5, folder 15

Options in Institutional Portfolios: Theory and Practice 1975

box 5, folder 16

Miscellaneous notes, letters, and data 1975-1976

box 5, folder 17

Common Stock Volatilities in Option Formulas - CSRP data and graphs 1976

box 5, folder 18

Common Stock Volatilities in Option Formulas 1976

box 5, folder 19

A Public Index for Listed Options - final, draft, relevant material and notes 1977

box 5, folder 20

Index Options graphs 1977

box 5, folder 21

Proceedings, Seminar on the Analysis of Security Prices, vol. 22 1977

box 5, folder 22

CRSP talk 1977

box 5, folder 23

A Public Index for Listed Options - corrections 1977

box 5, folder 24

Indexes for Valuing Listed Options 1977

box 5, folder 25

Reducing Interest Rate Risk 1977

box 5, folder 26

Indexes for Valuing Listed Options (cont.) - draft and notes 1977

box 5, folder 27

The Probability that a Matrix has a Saddle Point 1978-1983

box 5, folder 28

The Cost of Liquidity Services in Listed Options 1982-1984

box 6, folder 1

Granville's Record in Predicting the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA): some statistical tests 1980-1982

box 6, folder 2

Options on Commodity Forward Contracts 1978-1985

box 6, folder 3

The Kelly Criterion and the Stock Market 1991-1992

box 6, folder 4

Risk arbitrage in the Nikkei put warrant market 1989-1995

box 6, folder 5-7

The Kelly Criterion in Blackjack, Sports Betting, and the Stock Market 1997-2008

box 6, folder 8

A Perspective on Quantitative Finance: Models for Beating the Market 2003

box 6, folder 9

Quantitative Finance - Long Term Capital Growth: Good and Bad Kelly Capital Growth 2010

box 6, folder 10

How does the Fortune's Formula - Kelly capital growth model perform? 2010-2011

box 6, folder 11

The Kelly Capital Growth Investment Criterion book review 2011

box 6, folder 12

Mathematical reviews 1978-1979

box 6, folder 13

Theory of the Inefficient Market 2000

box 6, folder 14

Option Theory 1996-1997

box 6, folder 15

Long-Term Capital Management (LTCM) 1998-1999

box 11, folder 9

Graduate School of Management: Statistical Tests of Joseph Granville's Market Timing Predictions 1980

box 11, folder 17

Blackjack: Beating the Klondike's Free Ride 1997

box 11, folder 21

Medium Term Simulations of the Full Kelly and Fractional Kelly Investment Strategies 2009

box 11, folder 22

Good and Bad Properties of the Kelly Criterion 2009

box 11, folder 24

Optimal Gambling Systems for Favorable Games 1969

box 11, folder 25

Understanding the Kelly Criterion 2008-2009

box 11, folder 26

Understanding the Kelly Criterion, Part II 2008

box 11, folder 27

Ziemba and MacLean correspondence 2007-2008

box 13, folder 16

Finance, theory, and notes - miscellaneous 1971-1991

box 14, folder 13

Maximizing Capital Growth with Black Swan Protection 2013

box 18, folder 13

Capital Asset Pricing Model: predictive power 1980

box 18, folder 14

Model for Convertible Bonds 1983-1984

box 18, folder 15

Dollar Cost Averaging 1987

box 18, folder 16

Index, Futures contract 1981-1983

box 18, folder 17

Project notes - Indicators 1979-1981

box 18, folder 18

Will there be a January effect? 1993

box 18, folder 19-20

Kelly Criterion 1960-1993

box 18, folder 21-25, box 23, folder 11-15

Kusper, Dick 1981-1984

box 19, folder 3

Option Evaluation Program 1990

box 19, folder 4

Optional Stopping 2002

box 19, folder 5

Options Models: Black-Scholes or Cox-Ross 1979-1980

box 19, folder 6

Option Theory: tables 1990

box 19, folder 9

Research notes, refs, options and commodities 1972-1974

box 19, folder 11-12

Logarithmic Utilities 1980-1993

box 19, folder 13

Research projects 1983-1988

box 19, folder 19-20

Tax loss harvesting 2000-2014

box 20, folder 9

Trade #32 1980

box 21, folder 15

Old diagrams circa 1970-1995

box 21, folder 16

Warrants theory 1965-1968

box 22, folder 1

Preferred headings - vertical undated

box 22, folder 2-8

Bonds: A-Z circa 1975-1998

box 22, folder 9-11

Warrants: A-Z circa 1969-1974

box 22, folder 12

Bond headings undated

box 22, folder 13

Warrant headings undated

box 22, folder 14

Bonds 0-100 undated

box 22, folder 15

Warrant heading and graph undated

box 22, folder 16

Issue, rate, interest dates and maturity, heading and graph undated

box 22, folder 17

Preferred heading - horizontal undated

box 22, folder 18

PFD diagram I undated

box 22, folder 19, box 27, folder 5

Warrant diagrams circa 1971-1973

box 22, folder 20

Bonds - diagram I undated

box 22, folder 21-23, box 23, folder 1-5

Proceedings, Seminar on the Analysis of Security Prices (Center for Research in Security Prices) 1975 May-1978 November

 

Gambling Subseries 1.3 1975-2002

Subseries Scope and Content Summary

This subseries consists of drafts and copies of articles written by Thorp on the topic of gambling. Most of the material is related to articles written for magazines such as Gambling Times, Blackjack Forum, and Winning and includes notes, research, and correspondence. There is also some material related to books and outlines of books on the subject.
box 6, folder 16

Gambling Times - Principles of Blackjack 1979

box 6, folder 17

Gambling Times - notes and drafts undated

box 6, folder 18

Gambling Times - correspondence 1978-1984

box 6, folder 19

Gambling Times - roulette undated

box 6, folder 20

Gambling Times - letters 1976-1978

box 6, folder 21

Hawkins - Ulam Liar's Game 1978

box 6, folder 22

"Rainman trick!" date to day of the week undated

box 6, folder 23

Gambling Times - Scarne 1995-2001

box 6, folder 24

Gambling Times - miscellaneous 1987-2002

box 6, folder 25

Blackjack Forum: Is Basic Strategy Optimal? draft, current 1992-1995

box 6, folder 26

Blackjack Forum: Is Basic Strategy Optimal? Reference, backup notes 1992-1995

box 6, folder 27

Blackjack Forum: Basic Strategy 1992-1993

box 6, folder 28

Blackjack Forum: Griffin 1991-1993

box 6, folder 29

Blackjack Forum: Heath 1993

box 6, folder 30

Blackjack Forum: Kelly 1993

box 6, folder 31

Blackjack Forum: Lammer calculations 1996

box 6, folder 32

Blackjack Forum: Lammer final 1996

box 6, folder 33

Winning: letters and articles 1975-1977

box 6, folder 34

Winning column #1 1977

box 6, folder 35

Winning column #2 1977

box 6, folder 36

Winning column #3 1977

box 6, folder 37

Winning column #4 1977-1978

box 6, folder 38

The Gambling Times Guide to Winning Blackjack letter 1985

box 6, folder 39

The Mathematics of Gambling: Gambling Times book 1978-1999

 

Blackjack Subseries 1.4 1960-1979

Subseries Scope and Content Summary

This subseries consists of drafts and copies of articles written by Thorp on the topic of blackjack (also known as twenty-one). Many of the folders contain research and computer outputs, as well as some material related to IBM computer programmer Julian Braun's Hi Opt system, based on Thorp's Hi-Lo Count.
box 7, folder 1

Program, Cptr 1960

box 7, folder 2-3

Blackjack duplicate results 1960

box 7, folder 4

Results 1962

box 7, folder 5

SRT3 undated

box 7, folder 6

Principal results 1960

box 7, folder 7

MRT3 1960

box 7, folder 8

MRTII 1960

box 7, folder 9

Cheating - Blackjack 1961-1964

box 7, folder 10

Beat the Dealer correspondence, first edit 1961-1962

box 7, folder 11

Blackjack data undated

box 7, folder 12

Blackjack testimonials 1962-1965

box 7, folder 13

Nevada corruption 1964

box 7, folder 14

Blackjack first edition miscellaneous 1960-1961

box 7, folder 15

Beat the Dealer revisions, clippings, notes, permissions 1962-1965

box 7, folder 16

Miscellaneous Blackjack results 1964

box 7, folder 17

Reppert 1964-1966

box 7, folder 18

Nevada Electronics 1966

box 7, folder 19

Winning Gambling Systems book material 1961-1963

box 7, folder 20

Taft and Uston, Sports Illustrated 1979

box 7, folder 21

Stocks: △C(I) distribution undated

box 7, folder 22

Scientific American, review of Epstein by Edward Thorp 1964-1969

box 7, folder 23

Blackjack miscellaneous 1974-1978

box 7, folder 24-25

Beat the Dealer: publicity 1963-1966

box 7, folder 26

Beat the Dealer: gambling news 1963-1979

box 13, folder 17-18, box 26, folder 1-4, box 27, folder 1-4

Computer output - Walden 1962

box 13, folder 19-20

Letters 1966-1978

box 14, folder 1

Braun Hi Opt 1963-1975

box 14, folder 2

Bibliography undated

box 14, folder 3-4

Blackjack Systems and various notes 1961-1978

 

Unpublished papers and talks Subseries 1.5 1963-1998

Subseries Scope and Content Summary

This subseries consists of drafts, copies of papers, and talks that have previously been unpublished, related to a variety of topics such as hedge funds, the stock market, and gambling. Some folders include notes and research related to the papers and talks.
box 7, folder 27

A Corrected Derivation of the Black-Scholes Option Model undated

box 7, folder 28

A Sine Series Elementary Problem 1578 undated

box 7, folder 29

A Stefan Problem for the Heat Equation, with Applications in Economics undated

box 7, folder 30

Backgammon: Part 1, The Optimal Strategy for the Pure Running Game 1975

box 7, folder 31

Bernoulli Portfolio Strategy: Maximizing the Rate of Growth of Assets 1971

box 7, folder 32

Black Scholes vs. Cox-Ross 1976

box 7, folder 33

The Classical Gambler's Ruin Problem undated

box 7, folder 34

Currencies: Finding the Portfolios that Maximize 1984

box 7, folder 35-38

How to Invest in Securities: HRWC talk 1998

box 8, folder 1

Exploiting Market Inefficiencies: Drexel Burnham Lambert Forum 1987

box 8, folder 2

Greed vs. Fear in the Stock Market: Fifth National Conference on Gambling and Risk Taking 1981

box 8, folder 3

How we Used Computer-Based Decision Support Systems to Make 104 Million Dollars undated

box 8, folder 4-5

Latitudes of Maximum Mean Daily Solar Intensity 1971-1972

box 8, folder 6

The Behavior of Securities Prices: Market Efficiency, Anomalies and Trading Strategies 1986

box 8, folder 7-9

Reducing Interest Rate Risk - A Report for the Energy Fuels Corporation, master and copies 1977

box 8, folder 10

Some Mathematical Problems in Game Theory and Utility Theory undated

box 8, folder 11

The Mathematical Theory of Options 1982

box 8, folder 12

The Science of Convertible Hedging circa 1971

box 8, folder 13

Various talks and articles undated

box 8, folder 14-15, box 23, folder 6-10

The Solution of Games by Computer 1963

 

Wilmott column Subseries 1.6 1988-2009

Subseries Scope and Content Summary

This subseries consists of drafts and back-ups of Thorp's columns for Wilmott, a mathematical finance and risk management magazine which is edited by Paul Wilmott. Some folders contain notes, research, and correspondence relating to the columns.
box 8, folder 16

Column 1 - Option Theory: What I Knew and When I Knew It 2000-2002

box 8, folder 17

Column 2 - Princeton-Newport Partners (PNP) 2001-2002

box 8, folder 18

Column 3 - Princeton-Newport Partners (PNP) continued 2001-2002

box 8, folder 19

Column 4 - The Distribution of Stock Price Changes 2002-2003

box 8, folder 20

Column 5 - The Distribution of Stock Price Changes, Part 2 2002-2003

box 8, folder 21

Column 6 - How Rich is Rich? 2002-2003

box 8, folder 22

Column 7 - How Rich is Rich? Part 2 2003

box 8, folder 23-24

Column 8 - A Million Dollars for Mathematics - and a Exercise in Finance 2003

box 8, folder 25

Column 9 - A Million Dollars for Mathematics - and an Exercise in Finance, Part 2 2003

box 8, folder 26-27

Column 10 - A Million Dollars for Mathematics - and an Exercise in Finance, Part 3 2003

box 8, folder 28

Column 11 - A Theory of Inefficient Markets 2003-2004

box 8, folder 29

Column 12 - A Theory of Inefficient Markets, Part 2 2003-2004

box 8, folder 30

Column 14 (backup) 1988

box 8, folder 31

Column 15 - Statistical Arbitrage, Part 3 2004

box 8, folder 32-33

Column 16 - Statistical Arbitrage, Part 4 2004

box 8, folder 34-35

Column 17 - Statistical Arbitrage, Part 5 2005

box 8, folder 36-37

Column 18 - Statistical Arbitrage, Part 6 2005

box 8, folder 38-39

Column 19 - Inefficient Markets 2005

box 8, folder 40

Column 20 - Bridge with Buffett 2005

box 8, folder 41-42

Column 21 - Berkshire Hathaway 2005

box 8, folder 43

Column 22 - Investing in Hedge Funds 2007

box 8, folder 44

Graphs 2007

box 8, folder 45

Column 23 - Understanding the Kelly Criterion, Part 1 2008

box 8, folder 46

Column 24 - Understanding the Kelly Criterion, Part 2 2008

box 8, folder 47

Column 25 - Understanding the Kelly Criterion, Part 3 2008

box 8, folder 48

Correspondence 2000-2001

box 8, folder 49

Cover story, issue #1 2002

box 9, folder 1

Notes 2003-2009

box 9, folder 2

References undated

box 9, folder 3

Poundstone and Fortune's Formula reviews 2004-2005

box 9, folder 4

Book/talk 2004

box 9, folder 5

Information sent 2000-2001

 

A Man for All Markets Subseries 1.7 1946-2017

Subseries Scope and Content Summary

This subseries consists of material related to Thorp's 2017 autobiography, A Man for All Markets: From Las Vegas to Wall Street, How I Beat the Dealer and the Market, and includes research, proposals, outlines, photographs, ideas and fragments, reference biographical material such as items from high school and reunions, and correspondence. Most of the material is broken down by chapter and includes notes written by Thorp in 2018. There is one oversized item related to a prank detailed in Chapter 2.
box 9, folder 6

Proposal and ideas 1976-2008

box 9, folder 7

Chapter 1 - Loving to Learn 2010

box 9, folder 8, box 25, folder 1

Chapter 2 - Science is My Playground 1946-1999

box 9, folder 9-14

Chapter 2 - Nathaniel Narbonne High School (NANHS) 1946-2008

box 9, folder 15

Chapter 3 - Physics and Mathematics 1955-1990

box 9, folder 16

Chapter 4 - Las Vegas circa 2002

box 9, folder 17

Chapter 5 - Conquering Blackjack 2002-2009

box 9, folder 18

Chapter 6 - The Day of the Lamb 1964-2009

box 9, folder 19-20

Chapters 6 and 7 - original magazine and newspaper articles 1961-1964

box 9, folder 21

Chapter 7 - Card Counting for Everyone 1993-1999

box 9, folder 22

Chapter 8 - Players versus Casinos 1964-2008

box 9, folder 23-25

Chapter 9 - A Computer that Predicts Roulette 1974-2008

box 9, folder 26

Chapter 10 - An Edge at Other Gambling Games 1973-2004

box 9, folder 27

Chapter 11 - Wall Street: The Greatest Casino on Earth undated

box 9, folder 28

Chapter 12 - Bridge with Buffett 1968-2009

box 9, folder 29

Chapter 13 - Going into Partnership 2003-2008

box 9, folder 30

Chapter 14 - Front-running the Quantitative Revolution 1977-1996

box 9, folder 31

Chapter 15 - Rise... 1983-2009

box 9, folder 32-37, box 10, folder 1-5

Chapter 16 - ...and Fall 1983-2017

box 10, folder 6

Chapter 17 - Period of Adjustment 2011

box 10, folder 7

Chapter 18 - Swindles and Hazards (Frauds) 1996-2015

box 10, folder 8

Chapter 19 - Buying Low, Selling High 1997-2014

box 10, folder 9

Chapter 20 - Backing the Trucks Up to the Banks 1993-2004

box 10, folder 10-11

Chapter 21 - One Last Puff 1998-2009

box 10, folder 12

Chapter 22 - Hedging One's Bets 1998-2015

box 10, folder 13

Chapter 23 - How Rich is Rich? 2001-2015

box 10, folder 14

Chapter 24 - Compound Growth: The Eighth Wonder of the World 1998-2000

box 10, folder 15

Chapter 25 - Beat Most Investors by Indexing 1996-2009

box 10, folder 16-17

Chapter 26 - Can You Beat the Market? Should You Try? 2000-2015

box 10, folder 18

Chapter 27 - Asset Allocation and Wealth Management 2008-2009

box 10, folder 19

Chapter 29 - The Financial Crises: Lessons Not Learned 2000-2017

box 10, folder 20

Chapter 30 - Thoughts 1955, 2010

box 10, folder 21

Epilogue 2011-2012

box 10, folder 22

Appendix A. Inflation 1999-2013

box 10, folder 23

Appendix B. Historical returns on asset classes 2007-2013

box 10, folder 24

Appendix C. The rule of 72 and more 2013-2014

box 10, folder 25

Appendix D. Princeton-Newport Partners' performance undated

box 10, folder 26

Appendix E. Our statistical arbitrage results for the Forbes 100 company "XYZ" 2002

box 10, folder 27

References 2000-2016

box 16, folder 27

The Q Group 1991

box 16, folder 28

Gambling - Proposed Book 1975-1976

box 16, folder 29

Baccarat undated

box 16, folder 30

Greg Benford correspondence 2004

box 16, folder 31

Biographical circa 1975-1992

box 16, folder 32

Blackjack 1981-1998

box 16, folder 33

Overall ideas 1989-1999

box 16, folder 34

Card shuffling 1999

box 16, folder 35

Cheating - games 1977

box 16, folder 36

Talk: Collins Associates 1989

box 16, folder 37

Hedge Funds 1996-1998

box 16, folder 38

Scarne 1980-1998

box 16, folder 39

Ideas and fragments 2010-2016

box 16, folder 40

Epigraphs 1986-2013

box 16, folder 41

Performance measurement 1999-2002

box 16, folder 42

Various articles, correspondence and notes 1973-2008

box 16, folder 43

Butterfly (generalized) 1977

box 16, folder 44

Blackjack 1981-1997

box 16, folder 45

Testimonials 1969-2008

box 16, folder 46

Voltaire story 1993-2017

box 16, folder 47

VITA and publications, working copy 2008

box 16, folder 48

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) reunion 1999

box 16, folder 49

Poundstone 2003-2004

box 16, folder 50

Tracking problem 1991

box 16, folder 51

Optional stopping 2002

box 16, folder 52

History Channel 2004

box 17, folder 1

Les Golden screenplay 2012-2013

box 17, folder 2

Correspondence - curious 1964-2008

box 17, folder 3

Book outline (old) 1999

box 17, folder 4-5

Bivariate Distribution of Stocks 1968-2008

 

Academic articles tied to Ed Thorp's work Subseries 1.8 1956-2008

Subseries Scope and Content Summary

This subseries consists of academic articles that impacted Thorp's work, articles based on Thorp's work, and articles by Thorp that influenced others, for example, "The Optimum Strategy in Blackjack" led Thorp to discover card-counting and writing Beat the Dealer. Many of the folders include related correspondence and research, as well as notes and annotations about how the articles influenced his work or how his work influenced others.
box 11, folder 10

The Optimum Strategy in Blackjack 1956

box 11, folder 11

The Speculative Merits of Common Stock Warrants 1961

box 11, folder 12

On a Conjecture by Thorp 1968

box 11, folder 13

Black and Scholes articles 1970-1974

box 11, folder 14

Elements of a Theory of Stock Option Value 1964

box 11, folder 15

Daniel Daniels 1994

box 11, folder 16

The Paradox of Non-transitive Dice and the Elusive Price of Indifference 1971

box 11, folder 18

Kassouf, Sheen (various articles) 1962-1979

box 11, folder 19

Thirteen Critical Points in Contemporary Economic Theory and Descriptive, Predictive and Normative Theory 1971-1972

box 11, folder 20

Samuelson, Paul A. (various articles) 2008

box 11, folder 23

Samuelson letters and bio 1988-2008

 

Game theory Subseries 1.9 1957-2007

Subseries Scope and Content Summary

This subseries consists of drafts and copies of articles written by Thorp on the topic of game theory. Game theory is "the branch of mathematics concerned with the analysis of strategies for dealing with competitive situations where the outcome of a participant's choice of action depends critically on the actions of other participants". Many of the folders include correspondence, publicity, notes, and research related to the articles and subject as a whole.
box 11, folder 28

A Favorable Strategy for Blackjack 1961

box 11, folder 29

Beat the Dealer: A Winning Strategy for the Game of Blackjack reviews 1962-1963

box 11, folder 30

A Partial Analysis of Go 1964-1988

box 11, folder 31

A Favorable Side Bet in Nevada Baccarat 1966-1970

box 11, folder 32

Repeated Independent Trials and a Class of Dice Problems 1964

box 11, folder 33

Optimal Gambling Systems for Favorable Games 1969

box 12, folder 1

Solution of a Poker Variant 1970

box 12, folder 2-3

A Computer-Assisted Study of Go on M x N Boards 1968

box 12, folder 4

Non-Random Shuffling with Applications to the Game of Faro 1973-1975

box 12, folder 5-7

Faro 1968-1974

box 12, folder 8-9

Fundamental Theorem of Card Counting with Applications to Trente et Quarante and Baccarat 1972-2004

box 12, folder 10-11, box 13, folder 10-12

Backgammon: The Optimal Strategy Pure Running Game 1975-1979, 2006-2007

box 12, folder 12

Blackjack Systems, Beating the Game 1975

box 12, folder 13

End Positions in Backgammon 1987

box 12, folder 14

Gambling Times Guide to Blackjack 1984

box 12, folder 15

Blackjack: Beating the Klondike's Free Ride 2000

box 12, folder 16

Does Basic Strategy Have the Same Expectation for Each Round? 2000

box 12, folder 17

Abstract: Recent Discoveries and New Approaches in the Analysis of Certain Gambling Games circa 1975

box 14, folder 6-8

Backgammon research 1975-1978

box 18, folder 12

Baccarat, F. G. Foster 1957-1973

box 20, folder 8

Trente et Quarante 1970-2003

 

Mathematical reviews and abstracts Subseries 1.10 1963-2008

Subseries Scope and Content Summary

This subseries consists of mathematical reviews and abstracts written by Thorp, which includes drafts and copies of articles with related research, notes, correspondence, data, and reports. The subseries also contains Trans Time newsletters which were published by a commercial cryonic suspension company that was based in San Leandro, CA.
box 12, folder 18-20, box 13, folder 1

Baccarat 1963-2006

box 13, folder 2

Black-Scholes model 1990-2008

box 13, folder 3

Cyclic Numbers undated

box 13, folder 4

ETS weekly reports 1992-2002

box 13, folder 5

Trans Time 1993-1996

 

Various articles and research Subseries 1.11 1962-2010

Subseries Scope and Content Summary

This subseries consists of articles, reviews, and research by Thorp on various topics such as a play called The Hot Shoe, an article on global warming, an article on the invention of the first wearable computer, and research on how to beat the lottery.
box 15, folder 70

"A Prof Beats the Gamblers", The Atlantic 1962

box 15, folder 73

The Gamblers Beside Book 1977

box 15, folder 74

The Legacy of Beat the Dealer 2002

box 16, folder 1-2

The Invention of the First Wearable Computer 1998

box 16, folder 3

How Many Beans in the Jar? 1965-1972

box 16, folder 4

Approximate Planetary Positions 1963

box 16, folder 5

Finding the Speed of Light in a Prism 1963

box 16, folder 6

"Exponential vs. Factorial: Elementary Problem E1860", American Mathematical Monthly 1964-1966

box 16, folder 7

"Equivalence Classes of Poker Hands - Elementary Problem E1865", American Mathematical Monthly 1965-1966

box 16, folder 8

The Hot Shoe 2003

box 16, folder 9

"Global Warming: Science vs. Skeptics", Orange County Business Journal 2010

box 18, folder 7

PROB M837, PROG No 679 undated

box 19, folder 1

Lottery 1999-2002

box 19, folder 2

Math notes 1982-1999

box 19, folder 7

Orthogonal Systems 1975

box 19, folder 8

The Mathematical Theory of Risk 1974

box 19, folder 10

Research ideas 1971

box 20, folder 3

Foreword to Playing Blackjack to Win, Baldwin et al 2007

box 20, folder 4

Sports betting 1993-1994

box 20, folder 5

STAR II research circa 1988

box 20, folder 6

Various research: "Why I Worked in Secret", Principal Components, Convertibles - evaluation software, Japanese Warrants vs. Futures: Theory 1988-1997

box 20, folder 7

VMIH 1982

 

Functional analysis Subseries 1.12 1959-1973

Subseries Scope and Content Summary

This subseries consists of articles and drafts written by Thorp on the topic of functional analysis. Functional analysis is "the branch of mathematics that deals with the theory of vector spaces and linear functionals." Many folders also contain research, correspondence, and notes related to the articles and topic as a whole.
box 16, folder 10

"The Relationship Between a Compact Linear Operator and its Conjugate", American Mathematical Monthly 1959-1973

box 16, folder 11

"Projections onto the Subspace of Compact Operators", Pacific Journal of Mathematics 1960

box 16, folder 12

The Range as Range Space for Compact Operators 1962

box 16, folder 13

"Finite Dimensional Normed Spaces", Journal of the Mathematical Society 1964

box 16, folder 14

"Internal Points of Convex Sets", Journal of the London Mathematical Society 1964

box 16, folder 15

"Some Banach Spaces Congruent to their Conjugates", Journal of the London Mathematical Society 1964

box 16, folder 16

The Range as Range for Compact Operators II and Operator Representation Theorems 1964

box 16, folder 17

The Strong Maximum Modulus Theorem for Analytic Functions into a Banach Space 1967

box 16, folder 18

Partially Bounded Sets of Infinite Width 1969-1971

box 16, folder 19

"Attempt at a Strongest Vector Topology", American Mathematical Monthly 1965

 

Probability and statistics Subseries 1.13 1960-2007

Subseries Scope and Content Summary

This subseries consists of articles, books, and drafts written by Thorp on the topic of probability and statistics. Many of the folders contain research, correspondence, and notes relating to his writings and the subject as a whole.
box 16, folder 20

"The Metrization of Statistical Metric Spaces", Pacific Journal of Mathematics 1960

box 16, folder 21

"Best Possible Triangle Inequalities for Statistical Metric Spaces", Proceedings of the American Mathematical Society 1960

box 16, folder 22

"Generalized Topologies for Statistical Metric Spaces", Fundamental Mathematics 1962

box 16, folder 23-24

Book: Elementary Probability 1966-1979

box 16, folder 25

"Poincaré's Conjecture and the Distribution of Digits in Tables", Composito Mathematica 1971

box 16, folder 26

Nontransitive Dice with Equal Means 2003-2007

 

Research notebooks Subseries 1.14 1973-1993

Subseries Scope and Content Summary

This subseries consists of research notebooks kept by Thorp on the subject of mathematical finance and option theory.
box 17, folder 6-11

Finance and option theory: Math and Methods in the Stock Market seminar 1973-1993

box 17, folder 12-13

Finance and option theory: Options, Warrants, and Hedging Models 1974-1980

 

Correspondence Series 2. 1961-2009

Series Scope and Content Summary

This series consists of correspondence to and from Ed Thorp with gamblers, publishers, hedge fund managers, economists, mathematicians, his PhD students, and cryonicists. Most notably, there are folders of correspondence with major blackjack theorist Peter Griffin; game theorist Richard Epstein (also known as E. P. Stein); magician and gambling scholar Russell T. Barnhart, who went on a blackjack trip to Vegas with Thorp and Mickey MacDougall, an expert in protecting gamblers against cheating casinos in 1962; Blackjack Forum producer and RGE publisher Arnold Snyder; and former president of Trans Time Inc., an Oakland cryonics center, Art Quaife. Some of the folders include articles written by and further information about the correspondent, such as resumes and photographs. Most of the folders include a note from Thorp in 2018 explaining the significance of each correspondent.

Series Arrangement

The correspondence series is arranged in its original order. Some material was intellectually arranged.
box 2, folder 9

Baesel, Jerry 1989-1998

box 2, folder 10-14, box 19, folder 14-17

Barnhart, Russell 1971-2000

box 2, folder 15

Bass, Thomas ( Eudaemonic Pie) 1981-1986

box 2, folder 16

Black, Fischer 1973-1983

box 2, folder 17

Boyle, Phelim P. 2000

box 2, folder 18

Braun, Julian 1963-1980

box 2, folder 19

Casti, John L. Prof. 1991-1994

box 2, folder 20

Computer, Joe 1981-1984

box 2, folder 21

Cover, Thomas M. 1979-1992

box 2, folder 22, box 3, folder 1-2

Curtis, Anthony 1997-1998

box 3, folder 3

David, J. undated

box 3, folder 4

Diaconis, Dr, Persi 1990

box 3, folder 5

Dubner, Harvey 1963

box 3, folder 6

Eadington, William 1976-1984

box 3, folder 7

Epstein, Richard 1966-1978

box 3, folder 8

Ethier, S. N. 1981-1982

box 3, folder 9-12

Evnine, Jeremy 1983-1984

box 3, folder 13

Gardner, Martin 1985

box 3, folder 14

Geske, Bob 1982-1983

box 3, folder 15

Greenblatt, Joel 1996

box 3, folder 16-25

Griffin, Peter 1970-1997

box 3, folder 26

Gross, William 1991

box 3, folder 27

Gwynn, John M. Jr, 1978-1985

box 3, folder 28

Harary, Frank 1985

box 3, folder 29

Hetherington, Norriss S. 1983

box 3, folder 30

Humble, Lance 1979-1982

box 3, folder 31

Kasanof, Robert 1989

box 3, folder 32

Lane, Morton 1984

box 13, folder 13

MacKenzie, Donald 2001

box 3, folder 33

Montmirel, Francois 1994

box 3, folder 34-39

Quaife, Art 1992-2005

box 3, folder 40

Revere, Lawrence 1968-1970

box 3, folder 41

Rotando, Louis 1990-1991

box 13, folder 7

Roulette - Shannon, letters, Campbell, circuits 1969

box 13, folder 8

Roulette 2002

box 3, folder 43

Samuels, Sidney 1989

box 3, folder 46

Sejzer, Daniel 1990

box 13, folder 9

Shannon, Claude 1961-2007

box 3, folder 44

Sharpe, William 1980-1990

box 3, folder 45

Shows, George 1989-1993

box 23, folder 16

Singer, Emily (Is) 2007-2008

box 3, folder 42

Sludikoff, Stanley 1982-1988

box 3, folder 47, box 20, folder 1

Snyder, Arnold 1980-1999

box 4, folder 1

Tanaka, Jean 1989-1993

box 4, folder 2

Walden, William E. 1977-1985

box 4, folder 3

Walsh, Greenwood 1982-1983

box 4, folder 4

Wang, William 1985-1989

box 4, folder 5

Welsch, Luther 1989

box 4, folder 6-9

Wilson, Allan 1961-1994

box 4, folder 10

Wheeler, Stuart 1977-1990

box 4, folder 11

Wing letters 1965-1966

box 4, folder 12

Wong, Stanford 1978-1982

box 4, folder 13

Zazove, Earl 1979-2000

box 4, folder 14-20

Ziemba, William 1980-1993

box 4, folder 21

Miscellaneous, AAA-DDD 1974-2007

box 4, folder 22

Miscellaneous. EEE-GGG 1979-2004

box 4, folder 23

Miscellaneous, HHH-JJJ 1974-1995

box 4, folder 24

Miscellaneous, KKK-LLL 1979-2005

box 4, folder 25

Miscellaneous, MMM-RRR 1974-2007

box 4, folder 26, box 5, folder 1

Miscellaneous, SSS 1980-2007

box 5, folder 2

Miscellaneous, TTT-ZZZ 1979-2006

box 5, folder 3

Unanswered correspondence 1979-1980

box 14, folder 5

Vice [ People vs. Frank Miller] 1968

box 23, folder 18

Correspondence sent 1994-1997

box 23, folder 19

Various correspondence 1962-1965, 2009

box 23, folder 20

Correspondence of interest 1960-1978

 

Speaking engagements Series 3. 1981-2012

Series Scope and Content Summary

This series consists of papers related to talks, lectures, standalone classes, and keynote addresses Thorp gave, as well as meetings, seminars, and conferences he spoke at, mostly related to mathematical finance. Materials include transcripts, notes, slides, correspondence relating to the speaking engagements, and audiovisual formats.

Series Arrangement

The speaking engagements series is arranged in its original order. Some material was intellectually arranged.
box 10, folder 28

Meeting: Tahoe 1981

box 10, folder 29

University of California, Los Angeles - class taught (Option Theory) 1983

box 10, folder 30

Meeting: Oakland Sutton Management / Princeton-Newport Partners 1983

box 10, folder 31

Meeting: Chicago TIMS/ORSA 1982-1983

box 10, folder 32

Meeting: B. Collins 1983

box 10, folder 33

Meeting: "How We Used Mathematics and Computers to make $104 million" 1985

box 10, folder 34

Talk: "How We Used Computer Based Decision Support Systems to Make $104 million" 1985

box 10, folder 35

Meeting: Berkeley Finance Seminar 1986

box 10, folder 36

Talk: Institute for Quantitative Research in Finance 1986

box 10, folder 37

Meeting: Princeton Newport Partners placement memo 1987

box 10, folder 38

Meeting: 5th Annual Equity Investment Technology Conference; Drexel, La Quinta 1987

box 10, folder 39

Talk: Santa Fe Institute 2012

box 11, folder 1

Talk: University of California, Irvine math 2012

box 11, folder 2

Talk: Wilmott 10th anniversary 2012

box 11, folder 3

Chase conference, New York 1992

box 11, folder 4-5

Gambling conference: Montreal 1997

box 11, folder 6

Meeting: Princeton-Newport Partners 1988

box 11, folder 7

Las Vegas trip 1997

box 11, folder 8

Gambling conference 1999-2000

box 13, folder 6, box 20, folder 12-20

Games, Gambling and the Stock Market: Systems for Getting Rich, University of California, Irvine lecture series circa 1992-1993

box 17, folder 14

Global Derivatives and Risk Management conference 2005

box 17, folder 15-16

Quantitative Finance Review ( Wilmott) keynote address 2003

box 18, folder 1-2

Oakley Sutton Management: Regression Theory and Factor Analysis course 1988

box 18, folder 3

Backup notes Santa Fe talk, EMH article for Wilmott, Paris talk 2003-2005

box 18, folder 4

Gambling, Derivatives and Market Inefficiency, Santa Fe Institute 2005

box 24, folder 3-4

Gambling, Derivatives and Market Inefficiency - notes and slides, Paris, France 2005

 

About Thorp Series 4. 1959-2017

Series Scope and Content Summary

This series consists of material about Thorp and his life, which includes audiovisual material and digital media, material related to proposed movie scripts based on Thorp's life, publicity and articles about Thorp and his career, and personal papers such as travel itineraries and cancer research with the company Tocagen.

Series Arrangement

The about Thorp series is arranged in its original order. Some material was intellectually arranged by subseries.
box 28, box 29, box 30

Audiovisual material and digital media Subseries 4.1 circa 1959-2014

Subseries Scope and Content Summary

This subseries consists of 7 5.25" floppy disks, 6 CDs, 5 VHS tapes, 4 DVDs, 4 3.5" floppy disks, 3 audiocassettes, 2 vinyl records, 1 U-matic tape, 1 microcassette, 1 reel, 1 USB flash drive, and 1 Memorex magnetic tape. The material includes interviews with Thorp, speeches and lectures by Thorp, book materials from A Man For All Markets, correspondence, and the computer games Dr. Thorp's Mini Blackjack, Volume Six. Coffee Break Series and Edward O. Thorp's Real Blackjack.
 

Movies Subseries 4.2 2002

Subseries Scope and Content Summary

This subseries consists of material related to proposed movie scripts based on Thorp's life. The Mueller folder contains a Beat the Dealer script, annotated by Thorp and correspondence discussing the script with Jeff Mueller. The Raun and Wendy folder includes notes from Thorp's daughter, Raun, to Wendy Riva on the history of various attempts to make her Thorp's "story" into a movie, as well as correspondence between Thorp and his daughter relating to movies and books.
box 13, folder 14

Mueller 2002

box 13, folder 15

Raun and Wendy 2002

 

Publicity Subseries 4.3 1961-2017

Subseries Scope and Content Summary

This subseries consists of articles from magazines, newspapers, and online news websites about Thorp, documenting his life and achievements as a card counter, professor, and investor.
box 14, folder 9

"How a Professor Beat Las Vegas and Wall Street", Orange County Register 2017

box 14, folder 10

"Lamb Kills Butcher", Coast Magazine 2017

box 14, folder 11

"The Unlikely Father of Wearable Computing", Engadget.com 2013

box 14, folder 12

"Card-counting Guru Named Extraordinarious", Orange County Register 2013

box 14, folder 14

"The Blackjack Ball", Casino Player 2012

box 14, folder 15

"The Smartest Guy in the Room", Newsweek 2012

box 14, folder 16

Interview, The Journal of Investment Consulting, Vol. 12, No. 1 2011

box 14, folder 17

Madoff Trustee targets explained, The Wall Street Journal 2010

box 14, folder 18

"The Quants: It Pays to Know Your Wall Street Math", NPR 2010

box 14, folder 19

"What's Luck Got to Do With It?", New Scientist 2009

box 14, folder 20

"Treasury's Got Him on Speed Dial", New York Times 2009

box 14, folder 21

"Revenge of the Nerd", Newsweek 2009

box 14, folder 22

"The Quant's Bible", Condé Nast Portfolio 2008

box 14, folder 23

"Beating the System: Academia Goes to the Casino", Aspen Times Weekly 2008

box 14, folder 24

"Most People Can't Beat the Market", Montreal Gazette 2008

box 14, folder 25

"Old Pros Size Up the Game", The Wall Street Journal 2008

box 14, folder 26

"Counting a Legend", Las Vegas Review Journal 2008

box 14, folder 27

"Never Say Die", Condé Nast Portfolio 2007

box 14, folder 28

"Interview: Edward O. Thorp", Coast 2007

box 14, folder 29

"He's Still Beating the House", Business Week 2007

box 14, folder 30

"Edward Thorp on Gambling and Trading", Derivatives Models on Models 2007

box 14, folder 31

"Hedge Funds Head for Mediocrity", Time 2007

box 14, folder 32

Wikipedia printout 2006

box 14, folder 33

"The Legacy of Beat the Dealer", Wilmott 2004

box 14, folder 34

"Incorporating the Quantitative Finance Review", The Best of Wilmott 1 2005

box 14, folder 35

"How I Invented Ace Prediction", Blackjack Ace Prediction 2004

box 14, folder 36

"Faces" (donation of $1 million to University of California, Irvine), Orange Coast 2004

box 14, folder 37

"Founding Faculty Member and Wife Donate $1 million...", UCI News 2004

box 14, folder 38

"Interview: Edward O. Thorp", Coast 2004

box 14, folder 39

"Donor Proves One in a Million", Daily Pilot 2003

box 14, folder 40

"Blackjack Wizard Suggests Safer Bets", Financial Times 2003

box 14, folder 41

"Ed Thorp, Blackjack Math Professor", Gamble Tribune 2003

box 14, folder 42

"Having the Edge on the Market" 2003

box 14, folder 43

"In for the Count", Wilmott magazine 2002

box 15, folder 1

"What a Card!", Worth magazine 1999

box 15, folder 2

"Green: A Month in the Life of Your Money", Esquire magazine 1999

box 15, folder 3

The Wall Street 100 Profiles: Edward Thorp and James Regan, Financial World 1988

box 15, folder 4

"A Brief History of Wearable Computing", MIT Wearable Computing Project 1998

box 15, folder 5

"When Economic Bombs Drop, Risk Models Fail", New York Times 1998

box 15, folder 6

"Thorp Opened the Field to Beat Blackjack", Gaming Today 1998

box 15, folder 7

"Figuring Odds Just Hobby for Author", The Japan Times 1995

box 15, folder 8

"Counters Culture", LA Times 1995

box 15, folder 9

"Counting on Blackjack", Las Vegas Style 1993

box 15, folder 10

"Mathematician Beats the Odds", Irvine World News 1993

box 15, folder 11

"Blackjack, Stock Market Wizard to Speak", UCI News 1992

box 15, folder 12

"A Three-time Winner", Forbes 1991

box 15, folder 13

Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, Changing Times 1991

box 15, folder 14

"Picking Stock Pickers", reprinted from Barrons 1991

box 15, folder 15

Barron's Money Manager Verified Ratings 1990

box 15, folder 16

The Wall Street 100: The Road to Riches, Financial World 1990

box 15, folder 17

Money Manager Verified Ratings, Wall Street Letter 1990

box 15, folder 18

"Math Wizard Thorp Still Can Smoke Out Good Investment" 1990

box 15, folder 19

"Money-Manager Math Whiz Calls it Quits", Wall Street Journal 1990

box 15, folder 20

"You Can't Keep Ed Thorp Down", Business Week 1989

box 15, folder 21

Financial World 1989

box 15, folder 22

"Interview - Edward Thorp", Omni magazine 1988

box 15, folder 23

"Conspicuously Missing from the Feds...", Financial World 1988

box 15, folder 24

"Rico, What a Racket", Wall Street Journal 1988

box 15, folder 25

Wall Street Computer Review 1988

box 15, folder 26

"Small Securities Firm Links Drexel's Milken, Goldman's Freeman", Wall Street Journal 1988

box 15, folder 27

"From Blackjack to the Market, He Mainly Loves the Challenge", LA Times 1988

box 15, folder 28

"Hooked on Wall Street", Los Angeles Herald Examiner 1987

box 15, folder 29

"Numbers Wiz Says Program Traders Not Crash Culprits", Orange County Business Week 1987

box 15, folder 30

"Don't Shoot the Computer", Barron's 1987

box 15, folder 31

Financial World 1987

box 15, folder 32

"Bond Investors Can Project Risk on Convertibles", Wall Street Journal 1987

box 15, folder 33

"Calculated Risk Taker", Personal Investor 1986

box 15, folder 34

Financial World 1986

box 15, folder 35

"The Money Men", Forbes 1986

box 15, folder 36

"Chip in Shoe is Ace Up Sleeve", Los Angeles Technical Journal 1986

box 15, folder 37

"The Town-Gown Collection", Intermarket 1984

box 15, folder 38

Money Angles (book) by Andrew Tobias 1984

box 15, folder 39

"Here are All the Winners", Los Angeles Times 1984

box 15, folder 40

"Quarterly Reports - Great Plays", Playboy 1983

box 15, folder 41

"A Profile of Ed Thorp: Blackjack's No. 1 Guru", International Gamblers' Club Newsletter 1982

box 15, folder 42

"Blackjack's No. 1 Guru", Los Angeles Times 1982

box 15, folder 43

Boardwalker Reno/Tahoe Review (p. 39) 1982

box 15, folder 44

Boardwalker photograph (p. 41) 1982

box 15, folder 45

"Loopholes Saves Commodity Tax Straddlers", Boardroom Reports 1981

box 15, folder 46

"Gambling on the Options Market", Express 1981

box 15, folder 47

"Law - Fast Shuffle for Card Counters?", Time 1981

box 15, folder 48

"The Invisible Wife", Harper's 1980

box 15, folder 49

"The Black and White Classic Blackgammon Championship", International Backgammon Review 1978-1979

box 15, folder 50

"Welcome, Dr. Thorp", Gambling Times 1978

box 15, folder 51

"Options Expert Who Hates to Gamble", San Francisco Chronicle 1976

box 15, folder 52

"Professor Edward Thorp", Gambling Quarterly 1975

box 15, folder 53

University of California, Irvine materials 1974-1975

box 15, folder 54

"How to Be a Winner!", Modern People 1975

box 15, folder 55

"Beating the Game", Science News 1975

box 15, folder 56

"Thorp: Best Bet at UC Irvine", Daily Pilot 1974

box 15, folder 57

"Playing the Odds", Wall Street Journal 1974

box 15, folder 58

"He Chips Away at Vegas Casinos", The Register 1974

box 15, folder 59

Lifelong Learning Courses at University of California, Berkeley 1974

box 15, folder 60

"New Game in Town", Wall Street Journal 1974

box 15, folder 61

"Counting at Blackjack Can Be Very Profitable When You're Near 21", Wall Street Journal 1974

box 15, folder 62

"New Partnership, Edward Thorp and Jay Regan", The Wall Street Letter 1969

box 15, folder 63

"Get Rich Slow", Newsweek 1967

box 15, folder 64

"Do Gambling Systems Work?", Chicago's American magazine 1966

box 15, folder 65

"By-By, Blackjack?", Reader's Digest 1964

box 15, folder 66

"He Beat the Casino with a Computer", The Tampa Tribune 1963

box 15, folder 67

"Beating the Dealer", Time 1963

box 15, folder 68

"Round 2: The Math Professor vs. Las Vegas Casinos", Detroit News 1962

box 15, folder 69

"Even 'Honest' Vegas House Cheats", Sunday Star-Ledger 1962

box 15, folder 71

"You Can So Beat the Gambling House at Blackjack, Math Expert Insists", Washington Post 1961

box 15, folder 72

Easy Money: Inside the Gambler's Mind circa 1987

box 18, folder 5

Eddie Thorp and newspaper articles from the 1960s [photocopies] undated

box 18, folder 6

"Triplets celebrate after all are accepted to prestigious MIT...", Daily Mail 2015

box 18, folder 8

"The Mathematician who Beat the Dealer", Maxim 2016

box 18, folder 9

Modern Trader 2015-2017

box 18, folder 10

"Conversations with Maya", Science News magazine 2017

box 20, folder 2

Tangletowns: Victory! 1984

box 23, folder 21

Kelly Capital Growth Investment Criterion book publicity 2011

box 24, folder 2

"Potpourri" (Beat the Dealer review), The Atlantic 1963

box 25, folder 2

"Vegas Wanted Him Dead", New York Post 2017

box 25, folder 3

"Thorpedo", OC Insider, Orange County Business Journal 2017

box 25, folder 4

Life magazine articles 1964

box 25, folder 5

"L'homme Qui Ruine les Casinos", Realites 1964

Language of Material: French.
box 25, folder 6

"How to Beat Roulette", Bloomberg Businessweek 2023-04-10

 

Personal Subseries 4.4 1987-2011

Subseries Scope and Content Summary

This subseries consists of personal papers from Thorp's life, including travel itineraries and cancer research with gene therapy company, Tocagen.
box 19, folder 18

Travel itineraries 1987-1992

box 23, folder 17

Tocagen math models 2010-2011

 

Teaching materials Series 5. 1968-1991

Series Scope and Content Summary

This series consists of teaching materials and administrative files pertaining to Thorp's academic career. The majority of the material relates to classes Thorp taught as a professor at the University of California, Irvine. Management 232 D was a class he taught at the University of California, Los Angeles, the folder contains letters from the University of California, Berkeley about a series of lectures he was teaching there. Many of the folders include notes from Thorp in 2018 with explanations about the material. Box 20, folder 10 includes an "historically important" letter from Fischer Black.

Series Arrangement

The teaching materials series is arranged in its original order. Some material was intellectually arranged.
box 20, folder 10

Biography and University of California, Irvine 1968-1976

box 20, folder 11, box 21, folder 11-12

Management 232 D, Option Theory, Winter 1991

box 20, folder 21-24, box 21, folder 1-9

GSA 280 A-B, Investment Management lectures 1979-1980

box 21, folder 10

GSM 290 D, Quantitative Techniques in Finance (theory of options), Spring 1982

box 21, folder 13-14

Game Theory 191 ABC 1969-1978