This invention would see him become the richest professional gambler in history<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The mathematical model Benter built not only changed his life forever but also the whole of the gambling industry, popularizing many of the techniques used today including statistical analysis, probability theory, and syndicate betting.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meaning the man\n– and the model he built in the 1980s – remain extremely relevant in today\u2019s\n21st century. <\/p>\n\n\n\n During his\nchildhood in Pittsburgh, it was clear that Bill Benter had a knack for\nmathematics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n His love for\nnumbers, problems, and equations soon saw him pursue a degree in physics at\nCase Western University, one of the top research universities in the United\nStates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, during\ncollege Benter discovered a much more interesting means of putting his\nmathematical skills to the test: Card counting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Like most people in the 1960s and 70s, Benter discovered the ground-breaking gambling method by reading Edward Thorp\u2019s book \u201cBeat the Dealer\u201d<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1979, aged\n22 and keen to test Thorp\u2019s theory, Benter booked a coach to Las Vegas and\nbegan his gambling career. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To fund his early exploits, Benter worked in a 7-Eleven for $3 per hour, staking his wages at the blackjack<\/a> table whenever he could. <\/p>\n\n\n\n During this time Benter was introduced to Alan Woods (below), an Australian professional gambler who had started his own Las Vegas card counting team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He soon joined them and earned approximately $80,000 per year<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n After a couple\nof years casinos became wise to the tell-tale signs of card counting and began\nclamping down on the practice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Soon, Benter,\nWoods, and everyone else involved in their team was blacklisted, denying them\nentry to all casinos in Las Vegas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Eager to try their skills on a different game, Woods and Benter turned to horse racing<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n They agreed to\nfocus on Hong Kong due to the massive popularity of the sport and the huge\namounts that were wagered at the twice-weekly races. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This number would reach a staggering $10 billion annually<\/a> during the 1990s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before\nBill Benter and Alan Woods could begin betting on horse racing, they needed to\nfigure out a means of improving their chances of winning, just as card counting\nhad helped them improve their odds when playing blackjack. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However,\nthe common belief at the time was that horse racing was too unpredictable, with\ntoo many uncontrollable variables for a winner to be accurately\npredicted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Unperturbed,\nBenter began researching. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He soon found what he was looking for, an academic paper titled, \u201cSearching for Positive Results at the Track\u201d by Ruth Bolton of Arizona State University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In\nthis paper Bolton outlines how a horse\u2019s race day performance could be\nestimated through the examination of several variables. For example, straight line\nspeed, jockey skill, and size. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Benter\ncalculated that by creating a model based on these variables he could determine\nwith greater accuracy the odds of each horse winning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This\nmeant that he could bet with superior confidence and precision than those who\nmade their choices solely based upon the official odds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In\nshort, he would have an advantage over all other bettors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Feeling\nhopeful, Benter coded his rudimentary system into a few computers and flew to\nHong Kong in 1985. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The first racing season he and Woods betted on resulted in a total loss of $120,000<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Livid,\nthey soon went their different ways, with Benter spending a couple of years\nplaying blackjack in Atlantic City to raise more money whilst continuing to\nidentify more variables to add to his model. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With each variable identified Benter\u2019s algorithm became slightly more accurate and soon, in September 1988, he felt prepared to try again.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n At this point his model factored in about 20 different variables, and it proved to be much more successful than the previous iteration, netting him $600,000 in his first season<\/strong>. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n His annual winnings leaped into the millions when Benter began incorporating the Hong Kong Jockey Club\u2019s live betting odds into his system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The first year he did this, the 1990-91 season, saw him win an impressive $3 million<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n As he approached the end of the millennium, Benter\u2019s model examined over 100 variables and had resulted in over $50 million earned throughout the 1997 season alone<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In\n2001 Benter\u2019s increasingly accurate model led him to win the Triple Trio, a\ncumulative bet in which players must accurately predict the first three horses\nin three different races. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With\nmore than 10 million possible winning combinations, the Triple Trio stood as\nthe ultimate proof that Benter\u2019s model was a sensational success. <\/p>\n\n\n\n His winnings for the Triple Trio alone totaled $16 million<\/strong>, a vast sum of money that he decided to leave unclaimed<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As\nper the Hong Kong Jockey Club\u2019s ruleset, the winnings were eventually\ndistributed to charities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With Benter – and Woods, who had his own betting setup built from Benter\u2019s model – winning such vast sums of money, word about their betting systems soon got out.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many competitors began to set up shop, using a description of Benter\u2019s model, which he published in an academic paper<\/a> in 1995, to create their own systems.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Competition\nsoon cut into profits and the golden age of mathematical horse race betting was\nrapidly brought to a close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both Bill Benter\u2019s and Alan Woods\u2019s betting schemes were not one-man shows. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Indeed, Benter frequently turned to a whole manner of people, like journalists, analysts, and mathematicians to identify extra variables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Outside of the\nmodel itself, both men hired a team of individuals to place the bets over telephone\ncalls. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When the practice of phoning in bets was banned during the 1997 season, Benter hired a large number of runners to print out betting slips and visit shops all over the city to place his bets manually. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This rudimentary system still resulted in winnings of over $50 million for the year<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, the\nbusiness-like nature of the betting schemes led to an investigation by the Hong\nKong Inland Revenue Department as any proof that the gambling syndicates acted\nas businesses would open them up to taxation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The threat of\nfurther investigation – and potentially catastrophic taxes – led Alan Woods to\nflee Hong Kong and settle in the Philippines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Although a\nsomewhat legal gray area, the manner of business-like betting popularized by\nBenter and Woods is now widespread, with perhaps its most famous contemporary\nexample being Zeljko Ranogajec, who incidentally\ncut his teeth counting cards and betting on horses with both Benter and\nWoods. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ranogajec, whose net worth stands above the $400 million mark, indirectly employs approximately 300 people<\/a>, and bets using a similar mathematical model to Benter on horse racing around the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n At its peak, Bill Benter\u2019s model factored in over 120 variables per horse and was earning him an estimated $100 million per season<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It is no\nsurprise then that many contemporary gamblers still use Benter\u2019s model – or\nothers inspired by it – today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In some ways\npunters looking to improve their odds have an easier time of it than Benter did\nbefore the turn of the millennium. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This is largely because statistics are much easier to come by in the digital age. <\/p>\n\n\n\n More data means more variables can be tested, and if proven to predict performance, they can be incorporated into the model.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\nA Hustler From\nThe Beginning<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Alan](\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/alan-woods.jpeg\")
Benter\u2019s\nBetting Model<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Putting It Into Practice In Hong Kong<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/hong_kong_jockey_club-1.jpeg\")
When Betting Becomes A Business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Horse](\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/horse-race--1024x685.jpg\")
Using Benter\u2019s Model\nToday<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Bill](\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/bill-benter.jpeg\")