Blair Hull's Next Big Gamble

Twenty-five years ago, Blair Hull was making a living playing blackjack. A week ago, Hull filed to take his options trading firm, The Hull Group, public in an attempt to raise $115 million to beef up the firm's trading technology.

Hull, who declined to comment because of the mandatory quiet period before an offering, was featured in the book New Market Wizards as a trader who leveraged the math of blackjack into an international derivatives trading firm.

Now Hull Group, which was formed in 1985, is trying to capitalize on the transformation of the securities industry to electronic platforms in Europe and the U.S. Already a major market maker and specialist firm on three of the major U.S. options exchanges and throughout Europe, Hull Group's filing shows the firm is planning on having the capital to keep up with moves toward electronic trading worldwide, especially in the U.S. ...