Card Shark's Son Busts

Jeffrey Thorp, the New York hedge fund manager charged this week with manipulating nearly two dozen small-cap private placements, has a gambler's pedigree.

His father, Edward Thorp, helped found the hedge fund business -- and also made a name for himself teaching card players one of the best-known systems for winning at blackjack.

In 1962, the elder Thorp, a math whiz and a university professor, published Beat the Dealer, a book that suggested it was possible to use a mathematical system to win by counting cards. The book caused such a stir that it led the Las Vegas casino industry to stiffen its precautions against card counting. ...