The podcast discusses advantage play, covering topics such as the rise and fall of LTCM, learning to count cards in blackjack, transitioning to video poker, winning strategies on slot machines, exploiting loopholes for financial gain, discovering loopholes in travel and sports betting promotions, and the allure of NFL betting.
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Quick takeaways
The importance of loving what you do and having passion for it leads to eventual financial success.
Unconventional individuals operating in the gambling world embody the pioneer spirit and seek edges in unique ways.
Being observant, understanding randomness, and continuously adapting are essential in finding new edges in advantage play techniques like card counting and shuffle tracking.
Deep dives
The Fascination with Beating Unbeatable Games
The podcast explores the speaker's fascination with beating unbeatable games like sports betting and blackjack. The challenge of turning the house edge into a positive outcome was the main motivation, and money was not the initial focus. The speaker emphasizes the importance of loving what you do, as the money eventually follows.
Exploring The Frontier of Gambling
The podcast highlights the unconventional individuals interviewed who push boundaries and operate in the unsettled corners of the gambling world. Examples include an economist setting up a craps table at a business school, a homeless person becoming an advantage player, and people leaving Wall Street for poker and vice versa. The guests embody the pioneer spirit and seek edges in unconventional ways.
Discovering Edge in Card Counting and Beyond
The podcast delves into the world of card counting and various advantage play techniques. Guests share their experiences and methods in blackjack, including basic strategy, deck tracking, and sequencing. The discussion also touches on other techniques such as shuffle tracking, spooking, and finding non-random events. The guests emphasize the importance of being observant, understanding randomness, and continuously adapting to find new edges.
Shuffle Tracking in Blackjack
The podcast discusses the practice of shuffle tracking in blackjack. The speaker describes their personal fascination with shuffle tracking and how they studied articles from the 1980s and 1990s to learn the technique. They explain that shuffle tracking involves counting cards and tracking the orientation of decks to identify profitable sections during a shuffle. The advantage of shuffle tracking is being able to bet table max, making it difficult for casinos to isolate the player. The speaker shares their success in winning significant amounts of money utilizing shuffle tracking.
Beatable Machines and Video Poker
The podcast explores the idea that machines in casinos can be beatable, specifically focusing on video poker. The speaker explains that by calculating the house edge based on the machine's pay table, it is possible to find video poker games with a small house edge or even a positive expectation. They highlight the importance of understanding the probabilities and payouts of different hands to determine the expected value of each action. The speaker shares their experience of leveraging video poker promotions and bonuses to win substantial amounts of money. They emphasize the need to understand the economics of the game and find opportunities where the machines or casinos have misconceptions about pricing or probabilities.
To this point we've published 33 podcast episodes covering everything from slot machines to hedge funds. This episode is Part I of an attempt to make sense of the guests, and make sense of the domain they operate in.
To find the show on all of the platforms check out the Linktree.
https://linktr.ee/johnreeder
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