And Asher had approached him. In the conference room, one morning. Before Jane Street’s intern class. Let’s make a bet, Asher had said. On what? On how much any one intern will lose gambling today. Sam’s first thought was about adverse selection. Adverse selection was a favorite topic at Jane Street. In this context it meant that the person most eager to make a bet with you is the person you should be most worried about betting against. When people wanted to bet—or trade—with you, there was usually a reason: they knew something you did not. (That they had a second cousin who had played in the
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