# Man Creates Algorithm to Bet on Horseracing; Makes a Billion

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-creates-algorithm-to-bet-on-horseracing-makes-a-billion/913315>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [June 27, 2020, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-creates-algorithm-to-bet-on-horseracing-makes-a-billion/913315 "2020-06-27T01:15:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\
**Post date:** [June 27, 2020, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-creates-algorithm-to-bet-on-horseracing-makes-a-billion/913315/1 "2020-06-27T01:15:01Z")

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> **[The Gambler Who Cracked the Horse-Racing Code](https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-gambler-who-cracked-the-horse-racing-code?utm_source=pocket-newtab)**
>
> Bill Benter did the impossible: He wrote an algorithm that couldn’t lose at the track. Close to a billion dollars later, he tells his story for the first time.

This is a fascinating article about how a man used math and computers to create a betting system for horseracing. His adventures in the world of professional gambling should be made into a movie.

> [@](#):
>
> …  
> Across the road from Happy Valley, 27 floors up, two Americans sat in a plush office, ignoring a live feed of the action that played mutely on a TV screen. The only sound was the hum of a dozen computers. Bill Benter and an associate named Paul Coladonato had their eyes fixed on a bank of three monitors, which displayed a matrix of bets their algorithm had made on the race—51,381 in all.
> 
> Benter and Coladonato watched as a software script filtered out the losing bets, one at a time, until there were 36 lines left on the screens. Thirty-five of their bets had correctly called the finishers in two of the races, qualifying for a consolation prize. And one wager had correctly predicted all nine horses.
> 
> “F—,” Benter said. “We hit it.”  
> …

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**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\
**Post date:** [June 27, 2020, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-creates-algorithm-to-bet-on-horseracing-makes-a-billion/913315/2 "2020-06-27T02:44:22Z")

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Fantastic read! Thanks!