The Kelly Criterion in Blackjack, Sports Betting, and the Stock Market
Edward O. Thorp · Handbook of Asset and Liability Management, Vol. 1 (Elsevier)
Main finding
Explains Kelly's growth properties and why many practitioners bet a fraction of Kelly to reduce volatility.
Limitations
Expository; examples assume known probabilities.
Study details
- Authors
- Edward O. Thorp
- Published
- 2006
- Venue
- In S. A. Zenios & W. T. Ziemba (eds.), Handbook of Asset and Liability Management, Vol. 1, 385–428
- Status
- Published
- Evidence type
- Book chapter
- Evidence strength
- Moderate (our assessment of how much weight the finding can bear)
- Sport
- Blackjack and sports betting (examples)
- Markets
- Various
- Method
- A practitioner-oriented exposition of Kelly betting with worked examples.
- Sample
- Not applicable.
- Replication
- Not applicable.
Read the original
doi:10.1016/S1872-0978(06)01009-X (opens in a new tab)
Our summary is an original paraphrase for education. Verification: Bibliographic record checked against publisher, index or author listings. Checked 2026-10-25.