Author Archives: java

May
05
2010

Photoshopped…At Last

I covered poker for years — before poker was cool — before Moneymaker — before the WPT. In all that time, I was never the subject of a 2+2 thread. And I never dared dream that I would ever be photoshopped by one of the 2+2 photoshop wizards. But thanks to aramfingal, I can die […]

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Apr
24
2010

Are Bookies More Ethical and Smarter Than Goldman Sachs?

Ideally, large investment banks are like bookmakers. Sportsbooks set up a fair wager that will attract bettors. They set the line to attract equal action on both sides. As the wager starts to attract bettors, the line readjusts to make sure the action is balanced. If a sportsbook still ends up having unbalanced action, it […]

Posted in Investment | Comments (6)
Apr
04
2010

Frugal Detective Work

Billionaire Andy Beal beat Ted Forrest (and the corporation) out of $10 million in a poker game at the Wynn. Right after the victory, I overheard Beal confirming his travel plans with Beal Bank VP, Craig Singer. Towards the end of the call, he added, “And see if they’ll bump us up to first class.” […]

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Mar
28
2010

Reclaiming Space and a Mini Book Purge

I looked at it twice. I remembered exactly when it was written: April 17, 2006. But I hadn’t remembered that I had it all this time. It was a draft of Chris Ferguson’s chapter of The Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide: Tournament Edition. Something was written in bold letters, in black sharpie, on the top […]

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Mar
14
2010

The Wall Street Shell Game, and is Frugality So Wrong?

A friend of mine recently told me that a private equity firm was about to buy his family business. He was surprised when I advised against it. He explained his father wanted to retire with a nest egg from the sale. I asked, “Well what are you going to do for the rest of your […]

Posted in Investment | Comments (2)
Mar
07
2010

The SXSW Invasion Countdown

I moved to Austin in March of 1993, just a couple of weeks before the SXSW Music festival. I bought myself a wristband for $35 and spent three days hiking the streets of downtown, listening to hundreds of mostly unsigned bands from around the world. The weather was warm. The margaritas were cold. And the […]

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Feb
21
2010

Crossing Over

On Thursday, the big flat panel in the hallway of our office wasn’t tuned to CNBC. Instead it was blaring the local news, covering the story about a plane that hit a building about a mile from our office. I was more preoccupied following a different story online. My neighbor’s house, just a couple of […]

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Jan
30
2010

Wiped, Recovered and Carli’s 50th

Since Biloxi, I’ve been fighting viruses — a cold and a computer virus. The cold was also picked up by the Shrink and rggator. We don’t necessarily blame Idouru, who had one while we were all in Biloxi. (cough, cough). I can’t quite pinpoint the source of the computer virus, howver, although I suspect it […]

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Jan
10
2010

Sadly Vahedi and Biloxi is My New Tunica

Before Chris Moneymaker won the WSOP, propelling the game into a Cinderella fantasy, I got to know many professional players during my trips to Tunica, Mississippi. There were no fans. There was no television. Jack Binion’s World Poker Open was a refuge for hardcore players, looking for a chance to do what they did best. […]

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Nov
26
2009

A Tale of Two Amy Calistris

A couple of nights ago, the Poker Shrink forwarded an email from Dan Michalski. It said “46 searches for ‘amy calistri scam’ have brought people to Pokerati this month. Did she write about a scam or is she in one?” I also got emails from Oliver Tse saying he has been seeing an ad with […]

Posted in Investment, Professional Poker Players | Comments (5)