Who is Bill Benter, “The gambler who cracked the horse-racing code”?

Bill Benter is a mathematician, businessman, computer scientist and author, but his great renown springs from a 2018 article on Bloomberg.com recounting how he was able to develop an artificial intelligence algorithm capable of beating the horse races over the long term.

The proof of concept occurred in the late 1980s and 1990s in Hong Kong, where he and his associates used his program to make millions of dollar in profit a year over, sometimes many millions.

His most famous exploit highlighted in the article came in November 2001, when he wagered on a jackpot bet (meaning a portion of the handle rolls over to the next card if no one hits it) known as the Triple Trio, which required bettors to correctly predict the top 3 finishers in any order in 3 successive races. Benter’s algorithm played 51,381 combinations at a cost of HK$/£1.6 million, including the single winning ticket worth HK$/£118 million (about $/£16 million U.S. at the time), according to the article.

Benter also is the author of the book “Computer-Based Horse Race and Wagering,” which outlines his methods.

You can wager on horse races online in these U.S. states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.