Geeks can and do outmath financial firms and even bookmakers and casinos.
The financial firm, bookmaker and casino just needs to outmath the 99.9% of customers who are not trying to beat them to win, and evict the 0.01% of customers whose outmathing is so good it is causing them problems.
Exactly. Counting cards at the blackjack table in Vegas isn't illegal, but they won't let you play after they figure out that you are. You can can beat the bookmakers, but once you do, you either get cut off or you only get offered odds with more juice.
How much are you willing to gamble on the prospect that you're in the top 0.1%? And before you answer, consider that you haven't been evicted so you're obviously not in the top 0.01%.
The financial firm, bookmaker and casino just needs to outmath the 99.9% of customers who are not trying to beat them to win, and evict the 0.01% of customers whose outmathing is so good it is causing them problems.