bedtime reading

i have put together the following list of some of the papers i found useful, informative or just interesting during the development of the robot project. they come from a variety of sites, and range from the anecdotal to the analytical and mathematical:

• introduction to gambler's ruin - gives the maths behind risk of ruin calculations
  
• risk formulas for proportional betting - this is heavy on the maths but basically contains a lot of very good formulas on bet sizing and risk of ruin
  
• a perspective on quantitative finance - this is by e. o. thorp, and deals more with stock market and hedge fund trading
  
• a new interpretation of information rate - this is the original kelly criterion paper by j. l. kelly jr., published in 1956
  
• the theory of gambling (1, 2, 3, 4) - a book by e. o. thorp with a lot of interesting stories as well as easy to understand maths
  
• the kelly criterion in blackjack, sports betting, and the stock market - the best explanation of the kelly criterion
  
• the first wearable computer - how to win at roulette using a toe-operated computer, another e. o. thorp paper
  
• a guide to casino mathematics - from the university of nevada at las vegas, gaming studies research center!
  

i also started to write a paper myself, on the design and implementation of the robot. i explain how i wrote the software, what problems i found and how i solved them, the maths and reasoning behind the project and so on. i don't know whether or when to release it, since it would certainly make it easier for someone else to duplicate my program, although i believe that anyone capable and motivated enough would not need the information anyway. i'll decide what to do once it's finished.

and, i've now put some more capital into the robot's account and i'm running it 24x7 so i'm hoping that it should show some good results over the next few days...