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 a happy woman.
I’m thinking of a line of T-shirts.
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 will work with other sportsbooks to offload the risk of its position. And it makes money from the action — not the ultimate result of the wager.
But in reality, investment banks may be less ethical and dumber than sportsbooks — even the mobbed up illegal kind. Or at least, that’s my read of the Goldman Sachs Abacus deal.
The Wager:
In sportsbooks, a fair wager is considered one where the outcome is not rigged. It doesn’t mean there isn’t a favorite — that bias is theoretically removed by the odds or the setting of the line. It is also assumed that each bettor will have equal access to the, somewhat imperfect, information that is germane to the result. A team’s past performance and statistics can be thoroughly researched, injuries are public information, etc.
In the Abacus case, the SEC’s primary argument is that the initial wager was not fair. Read More
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.”
As shocking as Beal’s win was — I think some people would be more shocked to learn that Andy Beal flies coach. He’s not the only billionaire that hates to pay for first class. Apparently IKEA founder, Ingvar Kamprad, also flies coach. An interesting article about frugal billionaires can be found here.
I know people think my frugality is freakish. But I don’t get why people pay more than they have to. Of course, sometimes I go to extrodinary lengths to get a deal. Read More
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
Happy Birthday Amy,
Chris Ferguson
P.S. Jesus Loves You
Over the last few weekends, I’ve been spring cleaning. While I was freelancing, writing Mike’s book, and working at StreetAuthority, my space got away from me. And I felt the need to reclaim some of it. Unfortunately, for me, this meant tackling my ongoing problem with books. Books end up being another one of my many vices. Read More
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 life?” He said he was planning to continue working for the company.
With tough love, I told him he had three years tops.
For the most part, private equity companies swoop down on companies with low debt, decent cash flow, and a lot of assets. They then issue tons of debt against those assets, collect millions in fees, and dump the debt-ridden company within a few years. Once saddled with debt, even the healthiest businesses struggle and often fail. Not bad for private equity companies – not good for employees.
I was tempted to send my friend Gretchen Morgenson’s article in today’s NYT about the downfall of mobile phone operator Wind Hellas after it was taken over by two private equity firms. One of the firms was Texas Pacific Group (TPG).
If you recall, TPG (along with Apollo Management) was the private equity group that bought out Harrah’s. Last month Harrah’s Chief Executive Gary Loveman said that the company might go public again, possibly by 2013. Of course in 2013, the company has $5.8 billion of its $19 billion of loans coming due. Harrah’s didn’t have most of this debt before the private equity companies bought them in January 2008. But hey, let the new shareholders worry about that. Read More
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 music was mind bending.
Over the years, the success of SXSW has taken a predictable toll. Record producers don’t come into town to sign bands any more. They host label showcases. The venues are so crowded now, a wristband won’t get you in to see the better-known bands.
And of course the one thing all Austinites fear this time of year is the number of people who come in from LA and think our laid back and inexpensive town is “quaint and cool.” Some will actually decide to move here. Andy Roddick’s $4 million house is up for sale, and I’m sure it’ll get snapped up during the invasion. Of course once here, they’ll bitch about the fact that they can’t find a limo or that mere residents can actually get into their favorite upscale “eatery” wearing shorts and flip flops. Read More
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 blocks away from my own, was burning out of control. It would be a few hours before I would realize the stories were related.
As the stories merged, newscasters tried to piece together a tidy explanation; one that would resonate with their audience. And one that would reassure them that “he” was different — that “they” were safe from suffering a similar fate. But there is no magic immunity from pain. Mostly, there is just blissful ignorance. Read More
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 was a fake Facebook email. And of course it hasn’t helped matters that the stock market chose the last couple of weeks to pitch a hissy fit. I wrote about the market’s teenage angst here.
I never thought last year’s rally was completely warranted. Some of it — yes. After all, at one point we were priced for collapse. But with 5.7% GDP growth in the fourth quarter (as unsustainable as that may be), and some pretty decent earnings with solid top-line growth, I don’t particularly get the market’s newfound pessimism.
And I only joined Facebook to access material for my screenwriters group. I barely go there except to accept a friend or occasionally read a message. If you’re trying to contact me, Facebook isn’t your answer. Same with LinkedIn or the poker social network sites. So it kind of frosts me that Facebook was the likely source of my virus. I’m even less likely to check in on it now. It also frosts me that Symantec (Norton Antivirus) doesn’t particularly give a shit that their software doesn’t prevent or fix viruses. If you were drowning, Symantec would charge you an extra $100 just to keep you company until you went under.
I learned long ago that Norton wasn’t much help and armed myself with a number of solid virus fighters. And I’ve been pretty handy at tackling all that came my way. But this last virus stayed one step ahead of me the whole time. After a week of fighting, I realized it was about to win. Less than an hour after dumping all my files to remote hard drive, I got the blue screen of death.
Luckily, I salvaged this great picture of Brian Zembic I once found on the web. I only saw Zembic once in person at the Bellagio and didn’t have my camera with me at the time. If you don’t know about Brian, you should definitely pick up a copy of The Man With the $100,000 Breasts And Other Gambling Stories
As it turned out, wiping my computer and reinstalling the operating system was much easier than fighting the virus. I should have done it sooner.
Even though I had six months left with Norton, I installed Vipre AntiVirus + AntiSpyware
I realized, after the fact, that I forgot to deactivate my Final Draft Version 8
So after the down time — from both the cold and the virus — I’ve been playing catch up. This weekend, I have 20+ pages of a script to get out, blogs to read, and poker news to catch up on. I also have a few market plays that have been on the back burner, waiting for a little downdraft.
I did get an email from the Shrink recently, telling me that Doug Carli made his 50th cash in WSOP Circuit events when he finished 2nd at Harrah’s in Atlantic City in December — boosting his total tournament take to just north of $1 million. I recently saw Doug and his wife in Biloxi — where Doug has already cashed three times this month. What a machine.
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. And I knew when I stepped into the GoldStrike’s ballroom, I could always count on seeing Amir Vahedi. But no more.
Amir Vahedi died on January 8th.
Vahedi cashed at the World Poker Open in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2007. Overall, he grossed over $3 million in tournament poker and won his WSOP bracelet in a $1500 No Limit Hold’em Event in 2003. That year he would also make the final table of the Championship Event and finish in 6th place — the year Chris Moneymaker altered poker’s history. I will remember Amir not only for his skill, but for his kindness and seemingly endless ability to make those around him enjoy the game he loved. Read More
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 my picture on a lot of the investment sites he surfs. Lou Krieger recently wrote me because he received an email promotion for my Stock of the Month newsletter. All I can say Lou is that you must be on an investing email list somewhere.
I always thought I was the empress of self-promotion. But as it turns out, when it comes to promotion, I can’t hold a candle to the marketing team at StreetAuthority. Even I’ve surfed investment sites, only to see my face staring back at me. It’s a little unnerving.
Of course this isn’t the first time the investment Amy Calistri and the poker Amy Calistri have bumped into each other. We are, in fact, the same person — and always have been. Although, I was an investor long before I started playing poker. And I was an investment writer before I was published in poker.
The first (and only) poker book I’ve written was Mike Matusow: Check-Raising the Devil
To complicate matters, the very first chapter of a book I had published was in James Galbraith’s Inequality and Industrial Change: A Global View
Teaser Alert:
A new “poker Amy meets investment Amy” story came about just last week — involved Jennifer Tilly — and is detailed at the end of this post.
When I discovered poker, I liked it for the very same reasons I liked investing. They are both exercises in risk vs. return. Whether you are betting into a pot or investing in a security, you want to be sure you have a high probability of getting paid off.
I applaud each and every person who searched “amy calistri scam.” Where your money is concerned, you can’t be too careful. I assure you, all I do is write an investment newsletter. But even when a newsletter is legit, you should also be sure that it will meet your investing needs and style. For instance, if you’re looking for a newsletter that will help you day trade, I’m not it.
Unlike the fast-talking pundits on CNBC, I don’t recommend 45 investments in the span of a five minute television segment. In fact, if I had a television show, it would probably be called “Slow Money.” I cover just one investment idea a month. And I never have more than 12 investments in my portfolio at a time, so I can follow each one carefully. Read More