0 . 4 ▁as ▁your ▁optimal ▁w ager ▁size : ▁ 4 0 % ▁of ▁available ▁funds . ▁[ check ▁the ▁Stat ement ▁for ▁better ▁clar ification ] ▁ ▁In ▁recent ▁years , ▁Kelly - style ▁analysis ▁has ▁become ▁a ▁part ▁of ▁main stream ▁invest ment ▁theory ▁and ▁the ▁claim ▁has ▁been ▁made ▁that ▁well - known ▁successful ▁invest ors ▁including ▁Warren ▁Buff ett ▁and ▁Bill ▁G ross ▁use ▁Kelly ▁methods . ▁William ▁P ound stone ▁wrote ▁an ▁extensive ▁popular ▁account ▁of ▁the ▁history ▁of ▁Kelly ▁bet ting . ▁ ▁Example ▁ ▁In ▁one ▁study , ▁each ▁particip ant ▁was ▁given ▁$ 2 5 ▁and ▁asked ▁to ▁bet ▁on ▁a ▁coin ▁that ▁would ▁land ▁heads ▁ 6 0 % ▁of ▁the ▁time . ▁Part icip ants ▁had ▁ 3 0 ▁minutes ▁to ▁play , ▁so ▁could ▁place ▁about ▁ 3 0 0 ▁bet s , ▁and ▁the ▁pri zes ▁were ▁c apped ▁at ▁$ 2 5 0 . ▁The ▁behavior ▁of ▁the ▁test ▁subjects ▁was ▁far ▁from ▁optimal : ▁ ▁Using ▁the ▁Kelly ▁criter ion ▁and ▁based ▁on ▁the ▁odd s ▁in ▁the ▁experiment ▁( ign oring ▁the ▁cap ▁of ▁$ 2 5 0 ▁and ▁the ▁finite ▁duration ▁of ▁the ▁test ), ▁the ▁right ▁approach ▁would ▁be ▁to ▁bet ▁ 2 0 % ▁of ▁the ▁pot ▁on ▁each ▁toss ▁of ▁the ▁coin ▁( see ▁first ▁example ▁below ). ▁If ▁losing , ▁the ▁size ▁of ▁the ▁next ▁bet ▁gets ▁cut ; ▁if ▁winning , ▁the ▁st ake ▁increases . ▁If ▁the ▁bet t ors