Risk of Ruin

The Audacity of Help Jun 24, 2022

Richard Munchkin and Darryl Purpose are career advantage players. Over the past 40 years they've teamed up to win millions of dollars from casinos. In this episode they recount some of the war stories and also offer reflections on the nature of teamwork.
Darryl Purpose's music website: https://darrylpurpose.com/
Richard Munchkin / Gambing With an Edge: https://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/gambling-with-an-edge/category/podcast/
Earlier episode of Risk of Ruin featuring Richard and Darryl: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/david-goliath-part-i/id1527018692?i=1000493338179
James Grosjean's "Beyond Coupons": https://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/gambling-with-an-edge/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/beyondcouponsbjfo.pdf
Email the show: risk of ruin pod at gmail
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/halfkelly

The Character Building Side Effect of Losing May 24, 2022

Jason Strasser is the co-founder and Chief Investment Officer of Caption Partners. While in college Jason became a high stakes poker player and was making $100k/month before he left competitive poker for Wall Street. Today he generates his edge trading options, looking for one-off events where the volatility of the options are mispriced by algorithms.
Follow Jason on Twitter: https://twitter.com/strassa2
Email the show: risk of ruin pod at gmail
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/halfkelly

Before the Boom May 23, 2022

Barry Greenstein is in the poker Hall of Fame based on a resume that includes decades as a professional player, and being a regular at high stakes cash games.
In this episode he talks about his life playing games including bridge, backgammon, poker, sports, and more. He also tells stories from his 50 years in poker, where he's played with Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, Dr. Jerry Buss, Larry Flynt, Andy Beal, and more.
Find Barry on Twitter.
Find Dealio Poker.
The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King
Ace on the River
Follow the show on Twitter @halfkelly

Greetings from Las Vegas - Part I May 21, 2022

Mark DeRosa, Zack White, and Rufus Peabody. The story a group of friends from Appalachian State that went on to team up with an econ grad from Yale. They started playing casino games and eventually would go on to bet the max at sports books all over Las Vegas.
Follow Zack White on Twitter.
Follow Mark DeRosa on Twitter.
Follow Rufus Peabody on Twitter.
Rufus's betting analytics startup: Unabated.

Greetings from Las Vegas - Part II May 20, 2022

Mark DeRosa, Zack White, and Rufus Peabody. The story a group of friends from Appalachian State that went on to team up with an econ grad from Yale. They started playing casino games and eventually would go on to bet the max at sports books all over Las Vegas.
Follow Zack White on Twitter.
Follow Mark DeRosa on Twitter.
Follow Rufus Peabody on Twitter.
Rufus's betting analytics startup: Unabated.

The Road of Trials May 19, 2022

Houyi went from Yale Law School to a job in finance before he left it all behind to become a professional advantage player. He talks about counting cards, learning to play hole cards, traveling the world, and a fateful poker game in Cambodia.
Email the show: riskofruinpod@gmail.com
Follow us on Twitter: @halfkelly

Inside Long Term Capital May 18, 2022

The story of Long Term Capital Management as told by LTCM partner Eric Rosenfeld. Eric earned a PhD from MIT, then taught at Harvard Business School, then became a trader at Salomon, then was a founding partner of LTCM.
Resources:
HBS Study on LTCM dividend
Eric's talk at MIT in 2009
Michael Lewis article on LTCM
When Genius Failed, Roger Lowenstein
Follow the show on Twitter: @halfkelly
Email: riskofruinpod@gmail.com
Web: halfkelly.com

Made in America - Part I May 18, 2022

The lives of two sharp sports bettors, and one bookmaker. Our guests talk about getting started in gambling, going from losers to winners, and the technology they use to keep their edges.
Guests: Spanky, Captain Jack Andrews, and Ray Marino
Spanky's Be Better Bettors: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/be-better-bettors/id1493902736
Captain Jack's Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bH3gZ9jpBZY
Captain Jack's new venture: https://unabated.com
Ray Marino: https://www.bookmaker.eu/
Frank B. talks about dice control on GWAE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REZgF55WPng
Follow the show on Twitter: @halfkelly
Email the show: riskofruinpod@gmail.com

Made in America - Part II May 17, 2022

The lives of two sharp sports bettors, and one bookmaker. The guests expand on the relationship between sharp bettors and bookmakers. Spanky talks about being the target of a government investigation.
Guests: Spanky, Captain Jack Andrews, and Ray Marino
Spanky's podcast on closing line value: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/closing-line-breakdown/id1493902736?i=1000505042641
Spanky's interview with Chris Bruno: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/christopher-bruno-interview/id1493902736?i=1000500772401
Captain Jack's Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bH3gZ9jpBZY
Captain Jack's new venture: https://unabated.com
Ray Marino: https://www.bookmaker.eu/
Follow the show on Twitter: @halfkelly
Email the show: riskofruinpod@gmail.com

Zero, by Way of a Hundred Apr 26, 2022

John Hempton runs Bronte Capital, which generates its excess returns primarily through shorting fraudulent companies. John walks through a hypothetical short, explaining how they find it, how they size positions, and the kinds of returns that can be expected. He also discusses his shorts of Valeant Pharmaceutical and Wirecard.
John Hempton on Twitter: https://twitter.com/John_Hempton
John's Blog: http://brontecapital.blogspot.com/
Netflix documentary on Valeant: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7909184/
Email the show: riskofruinpod@gmail.com
Follow the show on Twitter: https://twitter.com/halfkelly

Life's Too Short Apr 25, 2022

Marc Cohodes made a living exposing fraudulent companies, and profiting when their stock prices collapsed. But the life of a short seller is spent on a high wire because executives willing to engage in fraud don't play by the rules when their freedom is at stake. Marc tells the stories of the adversity he's faced holding public companies accountable.
Marc recounts the war stories from his shorts of iomega, TCBY, Lernout & Hauspie, Novastar Financial, Jos. A Bank, Bally Manufacturing, Direct Focus, and more.
Follow Marc on Twitter: @alderlaneeggs
Marc's Mimedx Website: http://petiteparkerthebarker.com/
Email the show: riskofruinpod@gmail.com
Twitter: @halfkelly

Bill Perkins is Not Afraid Apr 23, 2022

Bill Perkins is a natural gas trader, a minor celebrity in the poker world, and the author of "Die With Zero." Bill talks about his start in the markets and becoming an energy trader. He tells the story of almost blowing up during an extremely cold winter.
Links:
Die With Zero
https://www.diewithzerobook.com/
Bill's Twitter
https://twitter.com/bp22
Bill's Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/billperkins/?hl=en
WSJ Article titled "The Last Cowboy"
https://www.wsj.com/articles/bill-perkins-is-the-last-cowboy-betting-on-volatile-gas-markets-1501844400
Email the show:
riskofruinpod@gmail.com
Twitter
https://twitter.com/halfkelly

David & Goliath, Part I Apr 22, 2022

They went to Las Vegas as card counters and over years they discovered other ways to win in the casino. Eventually they became advantage players. This episode is about the Las Vegas that existed before mega resorts. Our heroes played hole cards, used computers in the casino, used video cameras in the casino - to name a few of the crazy stunts they pulled off.
Guests: Richard Munchkin, Mark Billings, Tommy Hyland, Darryl Purpose.
Contact the show: riskofruinpod@gmail.com
Twitter: @halfkelly
Links:
Gambling Wizards, Richard Munchkin
The Ultimate Edge, Mark Billings
Fortune's Formula, William Poundstone

David & Goliath, Part II Apr 22, 2022

They went to Las Vegas as card counters and over years they discovered other ways to win in the casino. Eventually they became advantage players. This episode is about the Las Vegas that existed before mega resorts. Our heroes played hole cards, used computers in the casino, used video cameras in the casino - to name a few of the crazy stunts they pulled off.
Guests: Richard Munchkin, Mark Billings, Tommy Hyland, Darryl Purpose.
Contact the show: riskofruinpod@gmail.com
Twitter: @halfkelly

From Blackjack to Black Monday Mar 24, 2022

Blair Hull played on the original Big Player blackjack team in the 1970s. He played with Al Francesco, Ken Uston, and ran into other pioneers of the game including Keith Taft. The Francesco teams were the subject of the book "The Big Player". After blackjack Blair moved into the financial markets where he used his proprietary options strategies to turn $25,000 into millions. Blair talks about his life searching for edges, and the lessons he learned.
Links: Hull Tactical ETF
Email the show: riskofruinpod@gmail.com
Follow on Twitter: @halfkelly
The Big Player on Amazon

Swimming With Sharks Mar 22, 2022

Howard Lindzon started his career as a stock broker. In the late 90s he founded a small hedge fund. Then he went on to found Wallstrip and Stocktwits. In 2013 his venture capital fund invested $100,000 in Robinhood.
His career illustrates that the delineation between retail and smart money isn't a bright line. As a hedge fund manager he outperformed the S&P despite the fact that he did not have access to the same data used by most big funds. He advocates for, and his career supports, the idea of finding smart people to follow.
Website: https://howardlindzon.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/howardlindzon
Email the show: riskofruinpod@gmail.com
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/halfkelly

A Seemingly Obvious Idea Mar 12, 2022

Andrew "Bert" Black is a co-founder of Betfair, which is the world's largest betting exchange. He recounts his life in gambling, coming up with the idea for Betfair, and how they managed to win the P2P betting war in the early 2000s.
Bert's horse farm: https://www.chasemorefarm.co.uk/
Bert's Twitter: https://twitter.com/bertthebold
Email the show: riskofruinpod@gmail.com
Follow us on Twitter: @halfkelly

The Game-like Aspect Feb 14, 2022

Kai talks about leaving the work world behind in favor of early retirement, and the part time pursuit of bank and credit card bonuses. He also discusses Lean FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) and how churning bonuses fits into his FIRE plan.
Kai's podcast: The Daily Churn
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-daily-churn/id1577648675
Email the show: riskofruinpod@gmail.com
Twitter: @halfkelly

The Idea Man Jun 17, 2021

Dr. William Ziemba talks about his life working on horse racing, lotteries, and the stock market. Links:
Bill's website where you can find his books and a summary of his career.
Article on Bill Benter
Article on Jeff Yass
Obit for on Paul Makin
Article on Harry McPike
Wikipedia entry for Ed Thorp
Risk of Ruin episode about Blair Hull
Email the show: riskofruinpod@gmail.com
Follow us on Twitter: @halfkelly

What Are the Odds? Jun 01, 2021

Arnold Snyder and Radar talk about becoming advantage players, a shuffle tracking play on a million dollar bankroll, and how they ended up together.
Link to Radical Blackjack by Arnold Snyder: https://www.amazon.com/Radical-Blackjack-Arnold-Snyder/dp/1944877487/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
Email the show: riskofruinpod@gmail.com
Twitter: @halfkelly

The Points and Miles Game Jan 15, 2021

Travel hackers spend their days looking for inefficiencies in the credit card points system. This episode is about two travel hackers, Nick Reyes and Grant Thomas, and how they ended up completely down the rabbit hole. They talk about spending hundreds of thousands of miles per year, and also relay tips for newcomers to the hobby.
Follow Nick Reyes on Twitter.
Read his writing at the Frequent Miler.
Get the Frequent Miler Podcast on iTunes.
Follow Grant Thomas on Twitter.
Read his writing at Travel With Grant.
Email the show: riskofruinpod@gmail.com
Follow the show on Twitter: @halfkelly
Grant and Nick talk about credit card points, travel hacking, manufactured spending, discount travel, and more.

Two Hustlers Jan 05, 2021

Mickey Crimm hitchhiked to Laughlin with little more than a sleeping bag and a backpack. In the casinos there he learned to hustle slot machines and play video poker with an advantage. He made a career out of these advantages and built up a bankroll over the years.
Bob Dancer arrived in Vegas with a bankroll of $6,0000. He eventually became a video poker pro and then later a millionaire.
This episode is about playing casino machines with an advantage.
Resources:
Follow Risk of Ruin on Twitter: @HalfKelly
Email the show: riskofruinpod@gmail.com
Follow Mickey Crimm on Twitter: @MickeyCrimm
Bob Dancer's autobiography, Million Dollar Video Poker
Gambling With an Edge

The Road Warrior - Part II Oct 23, 2020

The secret lives of traveling card counters. Comps, casino backoffs, a converted sprinter van, and more. The true story of what it's like to be a traveling professional gambler, by people that actually live it.
Guests: SassyRed, Joe748, Ryemo, and Dan
Email: riskofruinpod@gmail.com
Twitter: @halfkelly
Special thanks to Colin Jones of Blackjack Apprenticeship.

The Road Warrior - Part I Oct 23, 2020

The secret lives of traveling card counters. Comps, casino backoffs, a converted sprinter van, and more. The true story of what it's like to be a traveling professional gambler, by people that actually live it.
Guests: SassyRed, Joe748, Ryemo, and Dan
Email: riskofruinpod@gmail.com
Twitter: @halfkelly
Special thanks to Colin Jones of Blackjack Apprenticeship.

Casino Exploits Aug 07, 2020

The Gambling With an Edge podcast has made some 500 episodes featuring gamblers from every game imaginable. While most gambling content on the internet is filled with scammers and con artists, GWAE finds guests with credibility who have made their living as professional gamblers. This pilot episode is a tribute to GWAE.
GWAE Archive: https://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/gambling-with-an-edge/category/podcast/
GWAE Facebook page:https://www.facebook.com/GamblingWithAnEdge/
GWAE Blog: https://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/gambling-with-an-edge/

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected