Monday, April 19, 2004

You bet your life!

Betting your entire life savings on one roll of roulette is a suboptimal strategy, but it worked. $135,000 on red, red seven came up. He tipped the dealer $600 and walked away.

That was a bet with a huge negative EV. Lose, and you lose 100%. Win, and you double your bet, but pay income tax on it with no offsetting losses. Then again, it's hard to buy that kind of publicity, or put a price on it. Maybe he'd make it all back on the book deal if he lost.

Performancing