William Benter (born 1957) is an American professional gambler and philanthropist who focuses on horse betting. Benter earned nearly $1 billion through the development of one of the most successful analysis computer software programs in the

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

market. Benter has served as president of Hong Kong Rotary Club, founded the Benter Foundation, is chairman and International CEO of Acusis LLC, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and occasionally lectures university students on subjects like statistics and mathematical probability. Benter is a philanthropist donating to charitable causes both in Hong Kong and the United States.

Early life and career

William Benter was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As he grew up, he wanted to use his mathematical talents to make a profit so immediately after finishing a university physics degree in 1977, he went to the

blackjack Blackjack (formerly Black Jack and Vingt-Un) is a casino banking game. The most widely played casino banking game in the world, it uses decks of 52 cards and descends from a global family of casino banking games known as Twenty-One. This fami ...

tables in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

and used his skills to count cards. He came across the book, ''Beat the Dealer'', by

Edward O. Thorp Edward Oakley Thorp (born August 14, 1932) is an American mathematics professor, author, hedge fund manager, and blackjack researcher. He pioneered the modern applications of probability theory, including the harnessing of very small correlatio ...

, which helped him improve his methods. Seven years later, he was banned from all of Vegas’ strip's casinos. Benter then met with Alan Woods, a like-minded gambler whose expertise in

complemented his own in computers. The two became racing partners and in 1984, moved to Hong Kong. Starting with US$150,000 (), the pair relied on their mathematical skill to create a formula for choosing race winners. Using his statistical model, Benter identified factors that could lead to successful race predictions. He found that some came out as more important than others. Refining his software he ended up winning $600,000 in 1988 and hit $3 million in profits the following year. Benter later worked with Robert Moore. Benter is a visiting professor at the Southampton Management School as part of the Centre for Risk Research and a fellow of the Royal Statistical Society. In 2007, Benter founded the Benter Foundation.

Personal life

In March 2012, Benter married Hong Kong national Vivian Fung in a Tibetan Buddhist rite. In 2015 they had their first child Henry. Benter is currently residing in Pittsburgh.

Philanthropy

Benter is a big contributor to charity and political groups. According to political campaign contribution records, in 2008 Benter and Acusis were listed as donors to

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

presidential campaign President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese fu ...

and the

Democratic Party of Virginia The Democratic Party of Virginia (DPVA/VA Dems) is the Virginia affiliate of the Democratic Party based in Richmond, Virginia. Historically, the Democratic Party has dominated Virginia politics. Since the 1851 Virginia gubernatorial election, the ...

. In 2010, The Advantage Trust donated to Israeli-based organization

Rabbis for Human Rights Rabbis for Human Rights is an Israeli human rights organization that describes itself as "the rabbinic voice of conscience in Israel, giving voice to the Jewish tradition of human rights".

. ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'' reported in 2010 that Benter had raised and given at least US$800,000 in support to

J Street J Street ( he, ג'יי סטריט) is a nonprofit liberal advocacy group based in the United States whose stated aim is to promote American leadership to end the Arab–Israeli and Israeli–Palestinian conflicts peacefully and diplomatica ...

. In 2012, Benter donated one million dollars to the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

. In 2013, ''

Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...

'' reported that Benter donated thousands of dollars for pro- Hagel ads in ''

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...

'' when he was nominated to be next Secretary of Defense by President Obama. In 2016, ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' reported the Benter raised US$100,000 for A New Voice for Maryland, a pro-Joel Rubin group for Democratic nomination in Maryland's 8th Congressional District.

References

Bibliography

External links