
Patil held senior analytics posts at DemandTec before becoming the CSO of Freshplum. At the bottom of his resume, however, he claims to have been part of?a group of students who used?card counting?techniques to beat?casinos?at?blackjack?worldwide.?
According to Patil, his time with the West Coast Blackjack Club taught him some insightful lessons in terms of data science.? He is of the belief that blackjack is the only game in a casino that has a memory. What happened in the past is indicative of what will happen in the future, and this is what makes it so similar to the world of analytics. In an interview with VentureBeat, Patil claimed that when he first started playing the tables, he lost $35,000 (?22,342.73) in one hand. ?But, over a long period of time, you realise it is a probabilistic game,? he said. ?When you work out the variables, find out what is significant, understand the chances, and push through, you can win in the long run. Funnily enough, blackjack taught me another important lesson. The rules of the game can, and will, change. Just as in business. We constantly had to adapt our game to fit those with forced changes.?- From Oakland Athletics to Red Bull F1: How big data has helped sports teams win big
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