The Gambler Who Cracked the Horse Racing Code

Jun 11

Jun 11 The Gambler Who Cracked the Horse Racing Code

Bill Benter did the impossible: He wrote an algorithm that couldn’t lose at the track, and it’s won him close to a billion dollars.

At 61, Benter walks with a slight stoop. He looks like a university professor, his wavy hair and beard streaked with gray, and speaks in a soft, slightly Kermit-y voice. He told me he’d been driven only partly by money—and I believed him. With his intelligence, he could have gotten richer faster working in finance. Benter wanted to conquer horse betting not because it was hard, but because it was said to be impossible. When he cracked it, he actively avoided acclaim, outside the secretive band of geeks and outcasts who occupy his chosen field.