Great story on hedge fund millionaire's big blackjack night at Bellagio

O’Leary started beating the dealer, too, winning Geismar thousands of dollars a hand. After some big wins, Geismar hugged him in excitement. “He was jumping into the pit screaming ‘we’re going to need more chips over here!’” O’Leary recalls, laughing. “It was insane.”

The young dealer was visibly sweating with tens of thousands of dollars now being bet on every round of cards. A small crowd had formed around the table. At one point a casino pit boss came over, worrying that the players Geismar was backing up weren’t actually betting their own money. The table quickly convinced the man they were, and play resumed. The pit boss conferred with a superior, who O’Leary recalls saying “We’re never going to win our money back, but screw it, let’s let it roll.”

The guy is probably going to get funds deposited with him simply because of the blackjack game.

That is a great story......hope the guy claims the income on his 2012 tax return now that the public story is out there. I bet he wishes the news didn't get covered quite so extensively, although he must have had a hand in divulging the details.

This is every gamblers dream to have a run like that.

And MGM still wouldn't comp his room... j/k

Will donate his winnings to his own charity in Virginia to open a cafe, teach poor kids to cook, operate as a commercial kitchen for other charities. Said to have commented that if the charity needs more money, he will go back to the Bellagio.

Saw this article on Geismar's 'strategy'


Link to Reuters article

Here it is and feel free to enjoy your winnings.

" “The concept is, if I lose 10 hands in a row, I’m going to lose my minimum bet at least nine of those times…but if I win 10 hands in a row by pressing my bet every time—not doubling it, just making it bigger—I’m going to win a lot more than when I lose 10 hands in a row,” he said."

Now if only he had given his mentor, John Patrick, full credit !

Sounds like a good guy to have managing your money: gambling in a casino, no clue about the math.

Yeah the 2nd article is well written and describes how fool-hardy this man actually is. The problem is the silly comments made after by people who think they know what is going on, meanwhile they cannot even distinguish between "martingale" and "D'Alembert" (or the Pyramid progression) which is what it seems to me he was trying to use. Basically he was attempting to use the Fallacious "Law of Equilibrium" to give himself a chance of winning......

Poor soul.....hope you enjoy your money bub.

Something about a fool and his money comes to mind????

Quote: anonimuss

Sounds like a good guy to have managing your money: gambling in a casino, no clue about the math.

Why do you think he has no clue about math? The guy bought in for $10k, threw it around a bit, got lucky, and made some money. He doesn't say that he thought he had an advantage. He was just playing games with variance.

If a low roller bought in for $100 and ran it up to $7k (which is certainly possible) no one would write news stories about it, but it's no different. It's certainly a nice win but not unheard of or anything.

The guy took a private jet back home afterwards. What is $10k? He spent more than that flying home.

Quote: anonimuss

Sounds like a good guy to have managing your money: gambling in a casino, no clue about the math.

Hey folks,,, get with the times.
A Money Manager is not a trustee who manages other peoples money for their benefit.
A money manager is someone who makes a fund grow by leaps and bounds. He understands the stock market about as much he understands trains...when its moving you hop on,,, when it begins to slow down you hop off and hit the ground running. You have no loyalty to standards or practices or businesses. Your loyalty is to a stock's trading price and nothing else.
You may have been to Harvard or Wharton or Hard Knocks, it makes little difference.

Of course you gamble, you also drink hard and party hard. Its how you stay in the game.

And 'game' it is. Photographers, press agents, accountants and executives count only for their sound bite value to your career.
Blackjack and a money manager. Not difficult at all.