Brandon Adams, who teaches behavioral finance at Harvard University’s Department of Economics, says some of the best candidates for Wall Street trading jobs are the professional card players .
"They’ve essentially been the survivors in the system, a very difficult system where 95 percent of people lose money," said Adams, who plays on such sites. "Anyone smart enough and disciplined enough to survive that system is probably going to do very well in the trading world."
An increasing number of hedge funds and brokerages are scrutinizing professional poker to find talent and analytical tools, according to financial recruiters including Options Group, an executive-search company in New York City. Susquehanna International Group LLP, a Pennsylania-based options and equity trading company, uses poker to teach strategic thinking.
"Someone who has made a successful living as a poker player for a few years would more likely be a good trader than someone who hasn’t," said Aaron Brown, 53, a former poker pro who is now a risk manager at AQR Capital Management LLC in Greenwich, which oversees $23 billion. "They know to push when they have the edge and they know how not to bust, and that’s a tough combination to find."
Skills that define successful traders — rational approach toward risk, speedy decision-making under pressure, discipline and a well-trained memory — are the same ones that separate elite poker players from ones known as "dead money," financial recruiters say.
After the World Series of Poker started in Las Vegas four months ago, Options Group recruiter Simon Satanovsky said he received a hedge-fund request for online poker players with no financial experience. He wouldn’t identify the client.
"Before, we were asking about GPA or the Math/Physics Olympiad," said Satanovsky, a former Russian national bridge champion. "Now, we’re asking questions about poker successes."
Satanovsky said Wall Street firms and recruiters have been paying increasing attention to poker players as job candidates since 2003, when amateur Chris Moneymaker beat hundreds of professionals to win the World Series of Poker’s No-Limit Texas Hold ’Em main event.
Adams, 30, who has taught at Harvard each spring since 2003, said disciplined poker players can be spotted on sites such as Full Tilt and PokerStars.com waiting for particular games, not tempted by those outside their area of expertise or financial comfort level.
Their self-control and confidence would be useful in trading where large profits are possible, the probability of going broke high and the competition formidable, he said. Adams cited as an example a trader who notices a slight imperfection in the way options are being priced, then works to come up with the proper bet per trade.
"In poker, people are used to not sitting back and waiting for the fat pitch," Adams said. "They’re used to skirting the edge of ruin and they learn the tools of how to do that."
Steven_Begleiter.jpgROBYN BECK/AFP/GETTY IMAGESFormer Wall Street executive Steven Begleiter pauses during a hand at the final table at the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) at the Penn & Teller Theater at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, on November 7, 2009.The worlds of poker and finance often intersect. Steven Begleiter, who headed corporate strategy at Bear Stearns Cos. before its 2008 collapse, earned $1.6 million this month with a sixth-place finish in the main event. Greenlight Capital LLC founder David Einhorn was 18th in 2006.
Even though poker players make good traders, they aren’t necessarily good with their own investments, said Adams, adding that he is almost "famously unsuccessful" as an investor.
"Poker players are lazy and they’re gossipers," he said. "If you look at the way they trade, they tend to latch onto other people’s ideas."
One person who has chosen poker over finance is Joe Cada, who this month outlasted Begleiter and Ivey at the main event final table to win the $8.55 million top prize.
"As a little kid, I used to watch the stock markets day in and day out," Cada, 22, said. "My parents always thought I was going to get into banking or become a stockbroker because I was really good with math and logic, and I was obsessed with money."
Cada said he plans to remain a poker pro.
AQR’s Brown, the author of "The Poker Face of Wall Street" and a lifelong player, long ago gave up the game professionally after a couple years of trying.
"I eventually decided finance was easier," he said.
For more Poker News, online video poker, game poker online and poker card online, see at online gambling poker
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
Professional poker player arrested in cold case murder
A professional poker player from Britain is facing extradition to Glenwood Springs to face allegations he murdered his wife in Colorado in 1997.
Scotland Yard arrested Marcus Bebb-Jones, 46, Wednesday morning at his home in Worcestershire, England, on a charge of murder in the first degree, concealing death and domestic violence, according to the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office.
Marcus Bebb-Jones, who once owned Hotel Melrose in Grand Junction, is accused of murdering his wife, Sabrina, and dumping her body near the top of Douglas pass, which is in the far western portion of Garfield County, near the Utah border. He is now in custody overseas awaiting extradition to Colorado.
The arrest follows an extensive 12-year investigation by multiple law enforcement agencies.
Sabrina Bebb-Jones went missing in September 1997. At the time, a woman staying at Hotel Melrose told police that Sabrina had disappeared after she and Marcus had an argument.
Marcus Bebb-Jones then went to Las Vegas with their 3-year-old son saying he was looking for Sabrina there because that is where her family lived. Shortly thereafter, police found the couple’s young boy alone in a Las Vegas motel room. Nevada police also found Bebb-Jones who had reportedly shot himself in the head in an apparent suicide attempt that somehow only left a grazing wound, according to media reports.
Sabrina’s murder case sat cold until 2004 when a rancher found a human skull on Douglas Pass that was later determined to be hers.
Law enforcement had long suspected Bebb-Jones but reportedly had difficulty moving the case forward due to a number of factors, including the suspect’s lack of cooperation, and turnover in the 9th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
DA Martin Beeson, who took office after voters threw Colleen Truden out of office a few years ago, recently told the board of Pitkin County commissioners that this case, along with many others serious matters, were keeping his office busy.
In brief comments he made to the Aspen Daily News yesterday, Beeson said he expects this case to be high profile and demand a lot of time. He compared it to “something out of a Hollywood script.”
Sabrina Bebb-Jones was 31 when she died.
Marcus Bebb-Jones became a professional poker player in 2005. His biggest win came in 2007 when he took first place at the Grosvenor Grand Prix, winning 90,000 pounds, or about $150,000 in U.S. currency.
For more on online video poker, game poker online, Casino Poker Chips and Hand Poker, check out Online Gambling Poker.
Scotland Yard arrested Marcus Bebb-Jones, 46, Wednesday morning at his home in Worcestershire, England, on a charge of murder in the first degree, concealing death and domestic violence, according to the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office.
Marcus Bebb-Jones, who once owned Hotel Melrose in Grand Junction, is accused of murdering his wife, Sabrina, and dumping her body near the top of Douglas pass, which is in the far western portion of Garfield County, near the Utah border. He is now in custody overseas awaiting extradition to Colorado.
The arrest follows an extensive 12-year investigation by multiple law enforcement agencies.
Sabrina Bebb-Jones went missing in September 1997. At the time, a woman staying at Hotel Melrose told police that Sabrina had disappeared after she and Marcus had an argument.
Marcus Bebb-Jones then went to Las Vegas with their 3-year-old son saying he was looking for Sabrina there because that is where her family lived. Shortly thereafter, police found the couple’s young boy alone in a Las Vegas motel room. Nevada police also found Bebb-Jones who had reportedly shot himself in the head in an apparent suicide attempt that somehow only left a grazing wound, according to media reports.
Sabrina’s murder case sat cold until 2004 when a rancher found a human skull on Douglas Pass that was later determined to be hers.
Law enforcement had long suspected Bebb-Jones but reportedly had difficulty moving the case forward due to a number of factors, including the suspect’s lack of cooperation, and turnover in the 9th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
DA Martin Beeson, who took office after voters threw Colleen Truden out of office a few years ago, recently told the board of Pitkin County commissioners that this case, along with many others serious matters, were keeping his office busy.
In brief comments he made to the Aspen Daily News yesterday, Beeson said he expects this case to be high profile and demand a lot of time. He compared it to “something out of a Hollywood script.”
Sabrina Bebb-Jones was 31 when she died.
Marcus Bebb-Jones became a professional poker player in 2005. His biggest win came in 2007 when he took first place at the Grosvenor Grand Prix, winning 90,000 pounds, or about $150,000 in U.S. currency.
For more on online video poker, game poker online, Casino Poker Chips and Hand Poker, check out Online Gambling Poker.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Joe Cada: the new world champion of poker
Who says you have to have a college degree to make money?
Joe Cada doesn’t.
A college dropout, Cada's now a multimillionaire after winning $8.5 million Tuesday in Las Vegas. Cada, 21, is the youngest person ever to win the World Series of Poker.
Cada, surrounded by his millions, said on "The Early Show" from Las Vegas that the money is "pretty sweet."
How did he do it?
Cada won the tournament in a preflop.
"I raised it up to $3 million, he made it $8 million, and I moved in for like $60 some million, and he called," Cada said. "I was kind of too scared to look so I just had my back turned, hoping it would work out for the best."
Cada had two nines, trouncing his opponent who held just a jack and a queen of diamonds.
A first-time player in the World Series of Poker, Cada said he'd looked forward to turning 21 for years so he could participate. Cada said he got his start playing cards with his friends at a "young age."
"I was really excited to play," he said. "It's a really long shot because there's 6,500 people in the tournament. But I was still looking forward to playing in it."
However, Cada said playing for up to 12 hours straight some days was "pretty surreal."
"You kind of get in the zone after a while," he said. "The tournament lasted for about 10 days total. Once you start playing for a long time, it was just like you had to wake up and go and play another day."
During the tournament, Cada said he was up and down with his success. At the beginning of the tournament he had the most chips of any player, but on the eighth day he was getting low on chips.
"Fortunately everything worked out well," he said.
As for support, Cada's said his mother, Ann, was skeptical of his involvement in gaming and the tournament because she works as a blackjack dealer at a casino in Detroit.
"She'd always see people gambling and you know, lose money, so she was always kind of nervous about me playing poker for a living," he said. "It brought her to tears when I won the thing. She said she was really proud of me."
So does Cada plan to go back to college now that he can afford it?
He told "Early Show" co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez that isn't his plan, saying he isn't going back "any time soon."
For more on online video poker, game poker online, Casino Poker Chips and Hand Poker, check out Online Gambling Poker.
Joe Cada doesn’t.
A college dropout, Cada's now a multimillionaire after winning $8.5 million Tuesday in Las Vegas. Cada, 21, is the youngest person ever to win the World Series of Poker.
Cada, surrounded by his millions, said on "The Early Show" from Las Vegas that the money is "pretty sweet."
How did he do it?
Cada won the tournament in a preflop.
"I raised it up to $3 million, he made it $8 million, and I moved in for like $60 some million, and he called," Cada said. "I was kind of too scared to look so I just had my back turned, hoping it would work out for the best."
Cada had two nines, trouncing his opponent who held just a jack and a queen of diamonds.
A first-time player in the World Series of Poker, Cada said he'd looked forward to turning 21 for years so he could participate. Cada said he got his start playing cards with his friends at a "young age."
"I was really excited to play," he said. "It's a really long shot because there's 6,500 people in the tournament. But I was still looking forward to playing in it."
However, Cada said playing for up to 12 hours straight some days was "pretty surreal."
"You kind of get in the zone after a while," he said. "The tournament lasted for about 10 days total. Once you start playing for a long time, it was just like you had to wake up and go and play another day."
During the tournament, Cada said he was up and down with his success. At the beginning of the tournament he had the most chips of any player, but on the eighth day he was getting low on chips.
"Fortunately everything worked out well," he said.
As for support, Cada's said his mother, Ann, was skeptical of his involvement in gaming and the tournament because she works as a blackjack dealer at a casino in Detroit.
"She'd always see people gambling and you know, lose money, so she was always kind of nervous about me playing poker for a living," he said. "It brought her to tears when I won the thing. She said she was really proud of me."
So does Cada plan to go back to college now that he can afford it?
He told "Early Show" co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez that isn't his plan, saying he isn't going back "any time soon."
For more on online video poker, game poker online, Casino Poker Chips and Hand Poker, check out Online Gambling Poker.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Joe Cada: the new world champion of poker
A 21-year-old American has won the game's biggest prize after fighting through an incredible final table.
We have a new world champion of poker: 21-year-old American Joe Cada.
Many will be disappointed that Phil Ivey didn't win. This was an incredible final table line-up. Last year, the organisers' new plan of a five-month delay before the final (to maximise TV revenue while adding nothing to the prize pool) killed some of the momentum and excitement. This year felt different. With finalists including Jeff Shulman (popular and well-known editor of Card Player magazine), James Akenhead (a young British pro, for our patriotic pleasure) and Phil Ivey (believed to be the greatest tournament player in the world), there were reasons to stay excited until November.
But Shulman finished in fifth place. Akenhead was the first man out. Ivey, who seemed to play cautiously, finally put down his apple and moved all in with AK. Darvin Moon called with AQ, hit a Q and knocked him out in seventh spot.
This last coup seemed a particular shame. If the world's greatest player makes the world's biggest final, you want him to prove a point by winning, or contribute to a fairytale around the man who outplays him. You don't want him stumbling away after an absurd beat that makes the whole thing look like a lottery.
Darvin Moon, who finished second, is a woodcutter from Maryland, which sounds literally fairytale. Unfortunately, a win from him might have risked creating "the new Robert Varkonyi". Few speak respectfully, now, of the 2002 champion who made questionable plays but hit miracle cards. However romantic someone's story, we can't want this ultimate title to be taken on pure luck. Moon played powerfully heads-up, but promising professional Cada is the stronger winner. We will get to know him better now. He's no Ivey but maybe, one day, he will be.
For more on online video poker, game poker online, Casino Poker Chips and Hand Poker, check out Online Gambling Poker.
We have a new world champion of poker: 21-year-old American Joe Cada.
Many will be disappointed that Phil Ivey didn't win. This was an incredible final table line-up. Last year, the organisers' new plan of a five-month delay before the final (to maximise TV revenue while adding nothing to the prize pool) killed some of the momentum and excitement. This year felt different. With finalists including Jeff Shulman (popular and well-known editor of Card Player magazine), James Akenhead (a young British pro, for our patriotic pleasure) and Phil Ivey (believed to be the greatest tournament player in the world), there were reasons to stay excited until November.
But Shulman finished in fifth place. Akenhead was the first man out. Ivey, who seemed to play cautiously, finally put down his apple and moved all in with AK. Darvin Moon called with AQ, hit a Q and knocked him out in seventh spot.
This last coup seemed a particular shame. If the world's greatest player makes the world's biggest final, you want him to prove a point by winning, or contribute to a fairytale around the man who outplays him. You don't want him stumbling away after an absurd beat that makes the whole thing look like a lottery.
Darvin Moon, who finished second, is a woodcutter from Maryland, which sounds literally fairytale. Unfortunately, a win from him might have risked creating "the new Robert Varkonyi". Few speak respectfully, now, of the 2002 champion who made questionable plays but hit miracle cards. However romantic someone's story, we can't want this ultimate title to be taken on pure luck. Moon played powerfully heads-up, but promising professional Cada is the stronger winner. We will get to know him better now. He's no Ivey but maybe, one day, he will be.
For more on online video poker, game poker online, Casino Poker Chips and Hand Poker, check out Online Gambling Poker.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
College dropout wins $8.5 million poker jackpot
A 21-year-old college dropout won the World Series of Poker early Tuesday, completing the biggest comeback in the tournament's history to earn a 8.5 million dollar jackpot.
Joe Cada, the youngest champion in the 40-year history of the game's richest and most prestigious event, won with a pair of nines after about 90 hands head-to-head against second-place finisher Darvin Moon.
Moon had a queen and jack, and none of the other cards drawn in the Texas Hold ?Em hand improved it.
"I'd like to thank all my fans and my friends," an emotional Cada told a raucous theater full of supporters in bright-yellow T-shirts bearing his name. Later he told reporters: "It's really surreal right now."
Cada squandered a huge lead at the start of play late Monday against 46-year-old Moon before barreling back in a finale of constant betting in which he moved strongly ahead for a time.
It was played before an audience of more than 1,500 people at the Rio Hotel-Casino at a table stacked with bricks of cash. A diamond-encrusted championship bracelet gleamed on the side of the table.
Cada's triumph was particularly stunning because he was down to just two million chips out of 194.8 million on Saturday but came back to finish as the chip leader.
"He's another bright young voice, he's very good and he'll be a new light on the scene for some time," said Dennis Phillips, a poker professional who finished third in the 2008 World Series. "He'll be a great ambassador for the game."
Moon earned 5.1 million dollars for his second-place finish. The lumberjack eschewed the spotlight and had never been on a jet until he won entry to the World Series by winning a tournament at a local casino that cost him 130 dollars to enter.
The top two outlasted a field of 6,494 who played down to nine finalists in July and then survived a 17-hour marathon session that ended Sunday morning when they knocked out Frenchman Antoine Saout for third place at 3.5 million dollars.
Cada is from recession-hit Detroit, Michigan, the son of an out-of-work auto parts design engineer.
His mother, Ann, is a blackjack dealer at a Detroit casino who tried to dissuade her son from gambling when he left college to focus on his online play.
"When he started doing so well, I said go live your dream," she said. "He can always go back to school if he wants but how many people do what they love?"
For more, check out online gambling poker.
Joe Cada, the youngest champion in the 40-year history of the game's richest and most prestigious event, won with a pair of nines after about 90 hands head-to-head against second-place finisher Darvin Moon.
Moon had a queen and jack, and none of the other cards drawn in the Texas Hold ?Em hand improved it.
"I'd like to thank all my fans and my friends," an emotional Cada told a raucous theater full of supporters in bright-yellow T-shirts bearing his name. Later he told reporters: "It's really surreal right now."
Cada squandered a huge lead at the start of play late Monday against 46-year-old Moon before barreling back in a finale of constant betting in which he moved strongly ahead for a time.
It was played before an audience of more than 1,500 people at the Rio Hotel-Casino at a table stacked with bricks of cash. A diamond-encrusted championship bracelet gleamed on the side of the table.
Cada's triumph was particularly stunning because he was down to just two million chips out of 194.8 million on Saturday but came back to finish as the chip leader.
"He's another bright young voice, he's very good and he'll be a new light on the scene for some time," said Dennis Phillips, a poker professional who finished third in the 2008 World Series. "He'll be a great ambassador for the game."
Moon earned 5.1 million dollars for his second-place finish. The lumberjack eschewed the spotlight and had never been on a jet until he won entry to the World Series by winning a tournament at a local casino that cost him 130 dollars to enter.
The top two outlasted a field of 6,494 who played down to nine finalists in July and then survived a 17-hour marathon session that ended Sunday morning when they knocked out Frenchman Antoine Saout for third place at 3.5 million dollars.
Cada is from recession-hit Detroit, Michigan, the son of an out-of-work auto parts design engineer.
His mother, Ann, is a blackjack dealer at a Detroit casino who tried to dissuade her son from gambling when he left college to focus on his online play.
"When he started doing so well, I said go live your dream," she said. "He can always go back to school if he wants but how many people do what they love?"
For more, check out online gambling poker.
Monday, November 9, 2009
21-year-old in the Poker World Series final
It is an amazing final match in the Poker World Series 2009. As it has a 21-year-old professional poker player battling it out with a self-employed logger for a huge prize of a whopping amount of $8.55 million. It was chiefly the luck of the 21-year-old Joe Cada as he made a drastic comeback to re-launch himself into the game.
If lady luck keeps on favoring Joe Cada then he is all set to become the youngest series champion ever in the finale Monday night. “Luck always helps,” Cada said. “I’ll take all the luck I can get.” Joe Cada had earlier eliminated French poker professional player Antoine Saout when a river king gave Cada a better pair than Saout’s eights.
Joe Cada faces an opponent more than double his age in the 46-year-old Darvin Moon of Oakland Md. He begins on Monday night with a nearly 2-1-chip disadvantage.
The interesting finale pits the 21 year old youthful professional Joe Cada who makes a living playing poker online against a self-employed logger who, until this year’s World Series of Poker, had never been on an airplane or gambled for high stakes.” They say he’s some kind of specialist online,” Moon said of Cada. “But I’m not online to watch.”
“It is definitely just about winning, so it’s disappointing I did not win,” another opponent who unfortunately lost before the finale Ivey said. “But I am happy with the way I played. I think I made pretty good decisions with the amount of chips that I had, and I think I gave myself as much possibility of winning it as I could.”
For more, check out online gambling poker.
If lady luck keeps on favoring Joe Cada then he is all set to become the youngest series champion ever in the finale Monday night. “Luck always helps,” Cada said. “I’ll take all the luck I can get.” Joe Cada had earlier eliminated French poker professional player Antoine Saout when a river king gave Cada a better pair than Saout’s eights.
Joe Cada faces an opponent more than double his age in the 46-year-old Darvin Moon of Oakland Md. He begins on Monday night with a nearly 2-1-chip disadvantage.
The interesting finale pits the 21 year old youthful professional Joe Cada who makes a living playing poker online against a self-employed logger who, until this year’s World Series of Poker, had never been on an airplane or gambled for high stakes.” They say he’s some kind of specialist online,” Moon said of Cada. “But I’m not online to watch.”
“It is definitely just about winning, so it’s disappointing I did not win,” another opponent who unfortunately lost before the finale Ivey said. “But I am happy with the way I played. I think I made pretty good decisions with the amount of chips that I had, and I think I gave myself as much possibility of winning it as I could.”
For more, check out online gambling poker.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Poker champ Berman stakes claim in Ohio casinos
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The casino developer and poker champion who had a failed bid for an Ohio slots parlor in 2008 has staked a claim to all four Ohio casinos voters approved Tuesday.
Lakes Entertainment Inc. chairman Lyle Berman cut the deal just days before the election Oct. 29, according to a Wednesday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Under the terms of the deal, Lakes agreed to fund 10 percent of the cost of the ballot initiative — which neared $35 million — borne by both Penn Ventures and Rock Ohio Ventures, the development businesses of Penn National Gaming Inc. and Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert. In exchange, Lakes has the option, but not the obligation, to a 10 percent share in each casino.
The filing said Lakes has already made an initial payment of $1.9 million to Penn Ventures, which is developing the Columbus and Toledo sites, and $2.4 million to Rock Ohio, which is developing the Cleveland and Cincinnati casinos.
Allegations of Berman's involvement were made by the anti-casino TruthPAC early in October. They were denied at the time by the pro-casino Ohio Jobs & Growth Committee.
Bob Tenenbaum, a spokesman for the pro-casino ballot campaign, said the deal was struck after that time.
"At the time this was raised as a campaign issue, which was Oct. 6, Berman had no role in any of this," Tenenbaum said. "He never became involved in the campaign, but he did reach out to both Penn National and Rock Ohio Ventures in the last week of the campaign and asked if he could become involved."
A message was left with Berman seeking comment.
Lakes Entertainment Inc. chairman Lyle Berman cut the deal just days before the election Oct. 29, according to a Wednesday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Under the terms of the deal, Lakes agreed to fund 10 percent of the cost of the ballot initiative — which neared $35 million — borne by both Penn Ventures and Rock Ohio Ventures, the development businesses of Penn National Gaming Inc. and Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert. In exchange, Lakes has the option, but not the obligation, to a 10 percent share in each casino.
The filing said Lakes has already made an initial payment of $1.9 million to Penn Ventures, which is developing the Columbus and Toledo sites, and $2.4 million to Rock Ohio, which is developing the Cleveland and Cincinnati casinos.
Allegations of Berman's involvement were made by the anti-casino TruthPAC early in October. They were denied at the time by the pro-casino Ohio Jobs & Growth Committee.
Bob Tenenbaum, a spokesman for the pro-casino ballot campaign, said the deal was struck after that time.
"At the time this was raised as a campaign issue, which was Oct. 6, Berman had no role in any of this," Tenenbaum said. "He never became involved in the campaign, but he did reach out to both Penn National and Rock Ohio Ventures in the last week of the campaign and asked if he could become involved."
A message was left with Berman seeking comment.
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