Richest Gambler In The World
Who is the richest gambler in the world? Currently, it’s widely believed that Bill Benter is the richest gambler in the world. A maths professor, Benter started using his understanding of maths for gambling purposes. After spending years in training, Benter started visiting Las Vegas casinos playing blackjack using card counting. This story appears in ESPN The Magazine's March 4 Analytics issue. Subscribe today! Bob Voulgaris had become one of the most successful sports gamblers in the world when, in 2004, he started to lose. Zeljko Ranogajec is rumoured to be one of the biggest gamblers in the world. It is estimated that his global annual turnover is more then $1 billion. Born in Australia in a family of Croatian immigrants. Zeljko first success in gambling came from the game of blackjack. In spite of outlaying almost $3 billion on gambling every year, the 57-year-old tries to keep his life private. #5 Billy Walters. Number 5 on our list is one of the richest sports gamblers in the world, Billy Walters, whose net worth is estimated to be $200 million. He and his friend, Edward Wray, founded Betfair in 2000. Not only was it the first bet exchange on the internet, but it is also now the largest in the world. According to Gamingclub, Black has been called the richest “gambler” in the world. Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta – Net worth: $2.2 billion each.
William “Bill” Benter developed one of the most successful
computer software programs in the world that helped him overcome
the Hong Kong horse racing market, but he certainly didn’t stop
there. He has moved into the United States and other Asian
countries, reportedly bringing home over $10 billion dollars a
year, making him one of the first professional gambling
billionaires.
Not only is Benter a mathematical genius who came up with an
extraordinary piece of gambling software, but he also is a
thoughtful philanthropist who dedicates a lot of his time and
finances to support government affairs, education related
causes, and many other organizations as well.
Insight into His Past
William Benter was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and
that’s where he spent the majority of his childhood. Even in
grade school, it became evident that Benter had exceptional
mathematic skills as he would often work out different equations
in his head just for fun.
As Benter grew up, he desired to use his mathematical talents
to make a living but he didn’t want to have to devote his life
to teaching or any other regular 9 to 5 job, so he headed to the
nearby casinos and began using his skills to count cards. It was
around this time that Benter came across the book, Beat the
Dealer, by Edward O. Thorp, which helped him improve his
methods.
Benter was embarking on a long journey to becoming a
professional gambler, but unfortunately Benter was such a
talented card-counter that many casinos banned, as they knew he
was bound to win consistently. Discouraged and realizing
gambling was his calling, Benter went back to the drawing board
to see if he could figure out another way to use his
mathematical knowledge to triumph in the world of gambling and
that’s just what he did.
Professional Gambling: Software that Beats the System
Benter was a too well-known face in casinos, so he decided to
take on a form of gambling that allowed him to stay away from
them, leaving him with no choice but to start gambling on
horseracing. Through hours of working on perfecting his work,
Benter was able to develop a software program that assessed
sixteen individual variables that could affect the horses,
jockeys, and trainers of a race that could ultimately have an
impact its outcome.
Using these results, Benter and his team created their own
prices and probabilities, which they used to make bets that were
usually always accurate. Benter is always looking for ways to
improve his software, adding more variables to improve his bets.
His latest updated software analyzes over 130 different
variables and it takes a deeper look into the prices of
different bets to see where he has the most potential to make
the most money.
Benter has hired a team of professionals to place bets for
him, strategically having them place bets mere seconds before
the last bets can be accepted. On average, he brings home $5-$10
million in a single day at the racetrack. His success started on
the racetracks of Hong Kong, and that’s where he met his future
wife, Vivian.
More recently, the couple has moved overseas to the United
States and other Asian countries that allow horseracing, so
Benter can prove that his software can successful in any
environment. He reportedly wins approximately 24% profit on the
turnover each time he bets, which is an impressive figure for
any gambler.
Philanthropy
In order to faithfully support United State’s leaders and
organizations, Benter formed the Benter Foundation with his
wife, so they can focus on helping organizations and people
worldwide. They look for organizations that are committed to
advancing education, human services, global citizenship, and a
myriad of other acts of service.
The Benters also pour a lot of their money into politics, as
they are very proud and passionate democrats. In 2007 and 2008,
they donated more than $136,000 to Democratic candidates,
including $6,900 to Obama. Benter is also member of the shadowy
Democracy Alliance, under which he donates $200,000 to a select
group of liberal nonprofit organizations.
Despite trying to avoid this career when he was younger,
Benter ironically enjoys being a visiting professor at the
Southampton Management School as part of their Center for Risk
Research. Benter has also been a guest speaker at Harvard
University, Stanford University, Carnegie Mellon University, The
City University of Hong Kong, and many more Universities across
the United States and China.
The City University of Hong Kong actually established a
scholarship in his honor, which is awarded to students each year
if they are excelling in applied mathematics. As Benter and his
wife care deeply for Hong Kong, they joined a Rotary Club that
focuses on establishing peace among China and its neighboring
countries. They also developed the Benter Initiative to help
students at the Chatham University develop a greater awareness
of world issues as they relate to different cultures.
American gambler William Benter developed arguably the most successful computer software in the world to attack the giant Hong Kong horse racing market, where the pools routinely reach into the hundreds of millions of dollars. During the 2010 racing season alone the betting turnover reached HK$71.65 billion, on just two racetracks! By comparison, all the thoroughbred racetracks in the U.S. combined take in just over $12 billion.
William Benter's software reportedly assesses hundreds of individual variables for each horse, jockey, trainer and track. Using the results, Benter and his team create their own prices and probabilities, and use these to bet against the general public. With amazing success. The rumours are wild, but estimates are that Bill Benter earns something around US$10,000,000 annually from Hong Kong horse racing.
More than any other industry, Horse Racing is based on emotion and feelings, people place bets based on everything from the horse's name to tips from a friend. Nowhere more than the notoriously supersticious Hong Kong race-tracks. William Benter used computer logic to beat the system, and make millions!
William Benter Biography
Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, William Benter began using his mathematics skills to count cards. Legend has it that in the mid 1970s Benter came across the book “Beat the Dealer”, memorized it’s strategies and began his professional gambling career at the blackjack tables of Las Vegas.
At the same time Bill Benter was being banned from most of the Vegas’ strip’s casinos (for winning too much money), he met fellow card counter Alan Woods, and the pair decided to have a shot at horse racing.
In 1984, Benter and Woods went Hong Kong, starting with a mere $150,000. The pair relied on their mathematic skill to create a formula for choosing race winners.
When Woods and Benter parted ways, in 1987, Benter refined his computerised probability model. William Benter is now known as having the best statistical handicap method, assigning numerical values to estimate a horse’s probability of winning.
Benter has acknowledged that the increase in computer technology have helped his team’s workload over the years, while greater experience has also allowed this professional punter more accurate betting. For example, while Benter started out examining only 16 variables for each horse in a race, it is now alleged that his team score horses on120 different handicapping factors.
William Benter’s pioneering work with computerized betting, his mathematical skill and knowledge, all have made him one of the most successful gamblers the horse racing industry had ever seen.
Benter is generous with his fortune, donating to charitable causes both in Hong Kong and America. His has even served as president of his Hong Kong Rotary Club.
Further Reading on William Benter
“The High Tech Trifecta”
By Michael Kaplan, Wired Magazine
Wired Magazine considers the operations of William Benter and his peers in software terms...
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.03/betting_pr.html
Richest Gambler In The World
“Playing percentages all the way to a billion”
By Max Presnell, The Sydney Morning Herald
Computer betting teams in horse racing in Hong Kong working from mathematical models. This article looks at the strategy of the three biggest punters in the racing industry of all time: William Benter, Alan Woods and Zeljko Ranogajec. And how Benter, Woods and Ranogajec all make billions from horse racing...
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2009/08/14/1249756405619.html?feed=fairfaxdigitalxml
Richest In The World
“The Life: Hong Kong Betting Syndicates”
By Jay Johnstone, June 2005
Every punter has a system, but few involve 40-strong teams using bespoke software to routinely deliver seriously fat profits. Jay Johnstone looks to Hong Kong for the closest thing to a sure bet...
http://www.pokerplayer.co.uk/sports-betting/horse-racing/137/the_life_hong_kong_betting_syndicates.html
World's Richest People
“The Winning Edge: A punter's program makes millions trackside”
By Yulanda Chung Hong Kong
This Asia Week article considers that the secret to William Benter’s horse racing success is his gambling software.
http://edition.cnn.com/ASIANOW/asiaweek/technology/2000/1103/tech.computing.html