What Was the Outcome of the Students' Attempt to Beat Roulette?

Question

Did the students succeed in their attempt to beat roulette in Las Vegas, and what was the outcome?

Answer 1

The students did find a way to scientifically beat roulette, which gave them a 20% advantage over the house. However, they only generated $10,000 in profit and faced many problems, including equipment malfunctions and the threat of casino security. Ultimately, they decided to share out the profits and remain friends, rather than reinvesting and facing further risks.

Comments

"in 2011 Farmer and Packard  broke their silence saying they quit at ten thousand dollars and didn't go any further. They gave in interview from their 15 million dollar luxury villas on a private island"

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Both went on to be wildly successful physicists and businessmen, even founding a stock arbitrage company in the 90’s together. Doyne is considered the founder of econophysics! Amazing story with amazing future successes!

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It's an interesting story. I'm glad they didn't continue with this strategy. Back in the 70s its likely that they would've lost more than just their money if they were caught cheating, and these days using equipment to cheat at gambling is a huge criminal charge. For a bunch of youths in need of money, exercising prudent caution and not overextending themselves was an unexpectedly smart decision. I could easily see this having went totally the opposite way due to greed.

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They even calculated their chances of getting caught and beaten and called it quits.

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It's a shame they didn't wait a few years for the tech to advance and try again. A lot of problems, (like heat, bulkyness, etc) could have been solved. Also, the mob was eventually pushed out in the early 80s.

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That ending was very sus.  I suspect they just broke the team up, claiming they were ending the experiment, but kept on going themselves.

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Much better story than expected. Also im very impressed they stopped after winning some. i think it was way too stresfull for then to continue

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You wonder if they ever went onto to go back to physics with that stake they won.

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I've seen this story before and I love it. Remember that show "Beating Vegas" I think it was on the history Channel. I loved that show.

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Very smart of the nerds to quit while they were ahead.  If some of them were caught I imagine that they could have ended up buried in the desert.