Althouse: "The first major turning point in Goldstein’s poker career came in 2008, when he put up the $10,000 fee to enter the World Series of Poker..."

28 డిసెంబర్, 2025

"The first major turning point in Goldstein’s poker career came in 2008, when he put up the $10,000 fee to enter the World Series of Poker..."

"... a multiday extravaganza in Las Vegas. On the first night, after the tournament had ended for the day, Goldstein sat down at a table at the Bellagio. 'I end up playing without looking at my cards,' Goldstein said. That, to put it mildly, was an unconventional strategy. He bet wildly and recklessly, but his opponents were flummoxed by his blind aggression. Goldstein told me he ultimately played that way for 18 hours and won some $400,000...."

Writes Jeffrey Toobin in "He Was a Supreme Court Lawyer. Then His Double Life Caught Up With Him. Thomas Goldstein was a superstar in the legal world. He was also a secret high-stakes gambler, whose wild 10-year run may now land him in prison" (NYT).

105 కామెంట్‌లు:

Leland చెప్పారు...: Sometimes, head-to-head gambling is about reading your opponents more than reading the cards. That is, until you come across professionals that can tell the scam.; 28-12-25 10:24 AM
Wince చెప్పారు...: As with high stakes poker or anything Jeffrey Toobin, you always have to wonder what is going on underneath the table.; 28-12-25 10:29 AM
Eva Marie చెప్పారు...: Reminds me of Owning Mahowny (2003), with Philip Seymour Hoffman as Dan Mahowny, a Toronto bank manager (based on the real-life Brian Molony) who embezzles over $10 million in order to gamble. (for rent Amazon Primr); 28-12-25 10:31 AM
Achilles చెప్పారు...: Not looking at your cards is not as uncommon a strategy as people would think.

Even if you have really good cards if there are 4 people still in it is unlikely you have a better than 50% of winning.; 28-12-25 10:40 AM
Beasts of England చెప్పారు...: You got to know when to fold ‘em, apparently…; 28-12-25 10:47 AM
Crimso చెప్పారు...: Recalled he is married to Amy Howe of SCOTUSblog. Wanted to check that and discovered a weird coincidence: a different Amy Howe is CEO of FanDuel, a gambling company.; 28-12-25 11:06 AM
boatbuilder చెప్పారు...: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Petscantalk/posts/985472582300964/; 28-12-25 11:10 AM
Eva Marie చెప్పారు...: Then there’s the story behind the story. A reader comments: “As a retired attorney, I’m not sure that the publication of this man’s story, on the eve of his criminal trial, was sound legal strategy.” So Tobin writes a sympathetic article making it clear that embezzlement to cover losses is not the issue - accounting mistakes are the problem. BTW my favorite part was Goldstein proving his case by showing Tobin “a 2014 email that he sent to his office manager in response to a question about taxes: ‘We always play completely by the rules,’ it read.”; 28-12-25 11:14 AM
FormerLawClerk చెప్పారు...: TIL Jeffrey Toobin doesn't understand how money laundering works.; 28-12-25 11:19 AM
Bob B చెప్పారు...: He was an active Democrat, which makes the charges regarding his criminal activities and abuse of women more believable.; 28-12-25 11:20 AM
Eva Marie చెప్పారు...: Thank you for this story. So interesting.
There were some good comments by readers.
1. In response to a reader who criticized wealthy men who throw their money away, a commenter replied: “The paycheck to paycheck folks can turn their noses up all they like, and mostly do, but then when those types win big, say the lottery, most spent it so fast and frivolously, they end up bankrupted.”
2. “vast wealth legally games the system to extract even more wealth. Perhaps the lure of these poker games is that unlike our economy the competition can’t be rigged.”; 28-12-25 11:20 AM
Larry J చెప్పారు...: I had a boss back in the 1990s who was a great guy. He built his company from employing only himself to 600 employees, and he knew all of us by name. He also loved gambling, which may be part of what makes a successful entrepreneur. He won a million-dollar slot tournament in Vegas. He likely also lost a great deal of money. Rumor had it that he could pick up a phone and Vegas would send a corporate jet to pick him up. They probably don't do that for people who win more than they lose.

In the late 1990s, he sold the company for an undisclosed amount of money. The company was doing $60 million a year in business, so it had to be a lot of money. The word was he had to sell to cover gambling debts. He moved to Vegas (mistake #1), built his dream mansion (mistake #2), screwed around and lost his marriage (mistake #3), and proceeded to lose everything gambling. I read a news article that said he lost $13 million in a single day playing Bacharach. He reportedly didn't have the money to cover his losses. They can put you in jail for that in Nevada. The last I heard, he had died of diabetes.

I don't gamble.; 28-12-25 11:22 AM
Eva Marie చెప్పారు...: BTW, in my opinion based on zero proof, a lot of cheating goes on in these games.; 28-12-25 11:22 AM
Martha చెప్పారు...: Eva Marie said: BTW my favorite part was Goldstein proving his case by showing Tobin “a 2014 email that he sent to his office manager in response to a question about taxes: ‘We always play completely by the rules,’ it read.”

Similar to the email Susan Rice sent to herself on Inauguration Day January 20, 2017 her way out the door memorializing the January 5, 2017 Oval Office meeting when President Obama stressed handling the Trump-Russia investigation “by the book”—wink wink …smirk..; 28-12-25 11:34 AM
narciso చెప్పారు...: A gambler moving to vegas that cant go wrong; 28-12-25 11:35 AM
tcrosse చెప్పారు...: David Mamet's film, House of Games, covers this subject very well.; 28-12-25 11:37 AM
FormerLawClerk చెప్పారు...: based on zero proof, a lot of cheating goes on in these games.

TONS of cheating. Poker attracts two types of people: sheep and cheaters.

On-line Poker was so rampant with the owners of the software caught cheating that it had to be outlawed in the United States (PokerStars is probably the last one that hasn't been caught yet). Many of the original top players have been implicated in cheating in one form or another (think Howard Lederer.) It's now legal in only 3 states (last I checked).

All the top poker sites were indicted for money-laundering and bank fraud (they were claiming each player's account was separate from everyone elses, a complete falsehood that meant that most of the poker sites were pyramid schemes.)

Players in 2008 began noticing certain players ALWAYS making the perfect moves in a game that is famous for variance (even perfect moves lose in theory). It was mathematically impossible what these players were doing and it turns out they were bots created by the poker sites themselves to cheat players. Some were real live players, but had special versions of the software that allowed them to see other players cards. Of course, greed finally got them because you can't cheat for long without getting caught.

That scandal took down one of the biggest competitors to PokerStars - Ultimate Bet. A former World Series of Poker champ was found to be one of the cheaters. He took $22 million off other players.

Live poker isn't immune. Mike Postle is a name every poker player knows. He played live poker at Stones and was getting other players hole cards, so he always knew when to call and when to fold. He can't get a game now, but the Stones casino is still operating and there's no way they weren't in on it.

I could go on and on. So Eva, your instincts are entirely correct. There's no such thing as an honest poker game.; 28-12-25 11:38 AM
Narr చెప్పారు...: "said he lost $13 million in a single day playing Bacharach"

Oh come now, you can't lose that much money playing Bacharach (but you will probably draw an older crowd).; 28-12-25 11:38 AM
NorthOfTheOneOhOne చెప్పారు...: Narr said...

Oh come now, you can't lose that much money playing Bacharach (but you will probably draw an older crowd).

I don't know. A lot depends on you knowing the Way to San Jose.; 28-12-25 11:41 AM
FormerLawClerk చెప్పారు...: "Rumor had it that he could pick up a phone and Vegas would send a corporate jet to pick him up."

If you walk into a Casino and regularly take that casino for millions of dollars, they are not flying a corporate jet to pick you up to come gamble in their casino.

There's one way to tell if you are a winner or a loser: Is the casino giving you ANYTHING? A room. Food. Beverages? If so, then you are a loser.

They don't give winners anything, except a ticket to the casino across town. Beat black jack too often and they'll fucking ban your ass from the property and blacklist you at all the other casinos.

Totally legal (as they've bribed the people who make winning illegal).

Win too big a jackpot, and the casino will just claim there was a malfunction and not pay you. Tough titty. And that's legal, too.; 28-12-25 11:46 AM
Narr చెప్పారు...: My three brothers (one older, two younger) used to take gambling junkets to Atlantic City and Vegas. Then legalized gambling came to Tunica just down the road, and my mother started going.

I went there once, lost my $50.00 in about 10 minutes of Vingt-et-un, and have never been tempted to go back.

Actually, that's not entirely true--a campus colleague and I were going to hit the poker tables sooner or later (he was a regular there already) but we never got around to it and he died.; 28-12-25 11:55 AM
Achilles చెప్పారు...: FormerLawClerk said...

TIL Jeffrey Toobin doesn't understand how money laundering works.

Yes he does.

Part of laundering money is the cover up and having the media on your side. Especially when you are laundering tax money.; 28-12-25 12:09 PM
narciso చెప్పారు...: Toobin flack for lawfare lawrence walsb that toobin; 28-12-25 12:14 PM
Mary Beth చెప్పారు...: I read a news article that said he lost $13 million in a single day playing Bacharach.

The Bacharach playlist must not have included this one.

(I'm assuming autocorrect prefers Bacharach to baccarat. I do too.); 28-12-25 12:21 PM
Dagwood చెప్పారు...: Wince @10:29 for the win.; 28-12-25 12:23 PM
Beasts of England చెప్పారు...: ’There's one way to tell if you are a winner or a loser: Is the casino giving you ANYTHING? A room. Food. Beverages? If so, then you are a loser.’

While I’ll agree that most players lose over time, casinos comp based on rate of play: dollars waged per hour, win or lose.; 28-12-25 12:46 PM
Ted చెప్పారు...: On the 20-year-old TV show "Las Vegas," any rich person who bet high amounts of money at the was considered a "whale," and would receive free travel, a suite and other perks whether they won or lost. (If they won, the thought was that they would eventually lose it all again anyway.) Meanwhile, the main character was they guy in charge of the high-tech surveillance system meant to catch anyone who was cheating. (And the head of the casino was a former spy played by James Caan, so maybe they weren't going for perfect accuracy.); 28-12-25 12:47 PM
Larry J చెప్పారు...: Narr said...
"said he lost $13 million in a single day playing Bacharach"

"Oh come now, you can't lose that much money playing Bacharach (but you will probably draw an older crowd)."

That's what the article said. This was in the early 2000s and I have not been able to find it online. You can lose big money on any form of gambling if the bets are stupid enough.; 28-12-25 12:55 PM
Eva Marie చెప్పారు...: I figured cheating was rampant because the casino gets a cut regardless of who wins so at a minimum why would they care.; 28-12-25 1:04 PM
Beasts of England చెప్పారు...: ’That's what the article said.’

I think he was riffing on Burt Bacharach versus the card game Baccarat…; 28-12-25 1:07 PM
Beasts of England చెప్పారు...: Just had a comment get eaten. First time in a while…; 28-12-25 1:10 PM
Beasts of England చెప్పారు...: The comment was Burt Bacharach / Baccarat card game.; 28-12-25 1:10 PM
rehajm చెప్పారు...: It is quite common for whales to play baccarat for $1 million a hand, just so ya know…

…I played some poker in that little poker room in the Bellagio. I didn’t know cheating was rampant. Maybe I was the mark?; 28-12-25 1:11 PM
Beasts of England చెప్పారు...: Time to get cooking for the final Friendsmas of the season! This one for my non-girlfriend girlfriends. My favorite lesbians and a married woman. lol

And if Laslo’s lurking: yes, both hot; and no, no ‘invite’. ;); 28-12-25 1:15 PM
FullMoon చెప్పారు...: Larry J said...
Narr said...
"said he lost $13 million in a single day playing Bacharach"

"Oh come now, you can't lose that much money playing Bacharach (but you will probably draw an older crowd)."

That's what the article said. This was in the early 2000s and I have not been able to find it online. You can lose big money on any form of gambling if the bets are stupid enough.

Waiting for Burt to weigh in..; 28-12-25 1:20 PM
Randomizer చెప్పారు...: I just don't get it. Even a dunce can understand that the money to build the casino came from somewhere, and high-stakes gamblers aren't dumb. Goldstein is a smart guy.

Look at the risk and reward. Goldstein couldn't have needed the money. Now, he's lost everything.; 28-12-25 1:24 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit చెప్పారు...: David Mamet's film, House of Games, covers this subject very well.

One of those films I would watch over and over again.; 28-12-25 1:25 PM
tcrosse చెప్పారు...: Maybe autocorrect turned the game of Baccarat into Bacharach.; 28-12-25 1:26 PM
tcrosse చెప్పారు...: Because the odds always favor the house, the house is happy to welcome big betters. It is possible for the individual to come out ahead in the short run, but the house always wins in the long run.; 28-12-25 1:28 PM
FormerLawClerk చెప్పారు...: "While I’ll agree that most players lose over time, casinos comp based on rate of play: dollars waged per hour, win or lose."

You always lose. There is no winning. Or they ban you.

The house mathematically CANNOT lose. Ever.; 28-12-25 1:29 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit చెప్పారు...: Quote from the House of Games: "When you have done something unforgivable, I'll tell you exactly what to do. You forgive yourself."; 28-12-25 1:29 PM
FormerLawClerk చెప్పారు...: "you can't lose that much money playing Bacharach

Lets say you won the state lottery. You're going to have to pay a LOT in taxes ... probably 40-45%.

Unless of course you have gambling losses equal to the amount you won.

So let's say you have a buddy owns a casino. He'll let you come in and lose $13 million in baccarach. Thereby creating a $13 million loss for you on paper to write off your lottery winnings.

Your buddy is gonna go out the back of the casino and give you all your money back - minus a 10% fee for himself of course.

You get a wash bet. He gets 10% and Uncle Sam don't get nothing.

And Jeffrey Toobin can't figure this out and explain it to his readers because he's the front guy.

Famed FBI employee and murderer Whitey Bulger - of the Winter Hill Gang of mafioso in Boston (FBI subcontractors) - cashed a $14 million lottery check this way.; 28-12-25 1:34 PM
William చెప్పారు...: Goldstein was certainly involved in a much more interesting and enviable scandal than Toobin. The book rights alone are much more valuable than Toobin's scandal, and there's a part for Sydney Sweeney in the movie.........From what I understand, you have to win big at least one time to trigger a gambling addiction. Afterwards, it's the losing that's the addiction.......Goldstein had a broad spectrum of vices. It would be amazing if he somehow was resistant to tax evasion. but it would be equally amazing if he couldn't figure out a plausible defense.; 28-12-25 1:37 PM
tcrosse చెప్పారు...: I attended a talk bu a guy from the Nevada state entity that deals with compulsive gamblers. He said that the effect on the brain of the gambling addict is identical to that of cocaine.; 28-12-25 1:38 PM
tcrosse చెప్పారు...: Baccarat, anyone?; 28-12-25 1:39 PM
rehajm చెప్పారు...: Yah whales can get a lot of goodies like the plane, all the comps they want, sometimes negotiate rebates on losses…and yah, there’s lots of MBAs and game math staff around so advantage players get the cold shoulder for sure. A high school nerd can best blackjack with good rules. I have. I’ve heard about advantage players in craps, roulette. There was one guy who would track those exotic games like war and some other stuff to that would kill when a casino was beta testing a new game. Supposedly he could use exotic counts and play with a huge advantage at bj. Multiples of hi lo…; 28-12-25 1:41 PM
Eva Marie చెప్పారు...: “While I’ll agree that most players lose over time, casinos comp based on rate of play: dollars waged per hour, win or lose."
This is true for comped rooms. I have a friend whose hobby is getting as much free stuff as he can from Las Vegas casinos. He has all the player cards and he gets free rooms all the time. The rooms aren’t really free because he has to play for a certain amount of time - but they’re at a steep discount. The casino doesn’t really lose because all they’re giving away is free rooms, which they have a ton of - and drinks. And of course they’re betting that eventually everyone who bets is going to bet more. But he gets a kick out of it.; 28-12-25 1:41 PM
FormerLawClerk చెప్పారు...: the effect on the brain of the gambling addict is identical to that of cocaine.

And Tik-Tok users - scratch that - Tik Tok junkies. Like Ann.

Dopamine hits.; 28-12-25 1:42 PM
FormerLawClerk చెప్పారు...: "Goldstein was indicted on January 16, 2025, on 22 counts, including tax evasion, filing false tax returns, willful failure to pay taxes, and making false statements on mortgage loan applications.

Remember when Leticia James made bank fraudulent statements on mortgage loan applications and got away with it Scot free?

"Nobody is above the la" ... SHUT THE FUCK UP.

That hood rat is.; 28-12-25 1:47 PM
Valentine Smith చెప్పారు...: Now you wouldn’t think it at first, but all addictions have the element of pain attached to the addiction itself. So while pleasure is the hook, it’s the pain that maintains the addiction. Hence, all addicts are masochists at heart. It’s not for nothing that the word passion means to suffer.; 28-12-25 1:58 PM
Eva Marie చెప్పారు...: “And Tik-Tok users - scratch that - Tik Tok junkies”
also commenters on blogs - don’t forget about them.; 28-12-25 1:59 PM
john mosby చెప్పారు...: Surprisingly, neither the article nor the commenters mention Trump. So I will: isn't this an example of the addictive personality that may be the secret to Trump's success? And it certainly seems that Goldstein's success at high risk SCOTUS cases also owes something to the addictive personality, no? CC, JSM; 28-12-25 1:59 PM
mccullough చెప్పారు...: Guilty on all accounts. Never to be heard from again.; 28-12-25 2:25 PM
Jupiter చెప్పారు...: "Now you wouldn’t think it at first, but all addictions have the element of pain attached to the addiction itself."
Bilge. The two necessary elements for clinical addiction are tolerance and withdrawal. Any activity lacking those elements is not an addiction, it's a preference for something that others would prefer you not to prefer.; 28-12-25 2:29 PM
rehajm చెప్పారు...: …back in the heydays of online poler one could play their way in to the wsop with a little as…a dollar? There were many $100 buy-in tourneys where first prize was a seat at wsop or that one in the carribean…; 28-12-25 2:37 PM
narciso చెప్పారు...: Couldnt he have reported tax losses why fudge on your taxes; 28-12-25 2:42 PM
Mary Beth చెప్పారు...: Maybe he need to try Ozempic.; 28-12-25 2:49 PM
rehajm చెప్పారు...: I just looked it up. No look pre-flop isn’t as bad a strategy as it sounds, and to the river you may go broke eventually but statistically it’s not horrible…; 28-12-25 2:52 PM
Eva Marie చెప్పారు...: “element of pain attached to the addiction itself.“
That must be true of gambling. Gamblers don’t stop when they win. They stop when they no longer have access to money.; 28-12-25 2:56 PM
tcrosse చెప్పారు...: I have had several comments disappear that contained the name of a card game that could be misspelled as Bacharach. I wish I knew what the rules were.; 28-12-25 2:57 PM
narciso చెప్పారు...: Right baccarat; 28-12-25 3:09 PM
FullMoon చెప్పారు...: Test baccarat; 28-12-25 3:19 PM
rehajm చెప్పారు...: I have had several comments disappear

Me too. I just figured it was the usual blog hosts/political algorithms one two punch…; 28-12-25 3:20 PM
FullMoon చెప్పారు...: "tcrosse said...
I have had several comments disappear that contained the name of a card game that could be misspelled as Bacharach"

Interesting. I posted the forbidden word as a test and it was gone within a minute.upon re-loading.

Had a simple non-provocative Epstein comment disappear a few days ago. No idea what the bad word was.; 28-12-25 3:26 PM
FullMoon చెప్పారు...: test; bacarat; 28-12-25 3:34 PM
FullMoon చెప్పారు...: baccarat; 28-12-25 3:34 PM
tcrosse చెప్పారు...: test; baccarattttt; 28-12-25 3:38 PM
tcrosse చెప్పారు...: There are to c's and one t. If spelled that way, it disappears.; 28-12-25 3:39 PM
rehajm చెప్పారు...: Bach, a rat
bocca rat
bock uh rat; 28-12-25 3:41 PM
rehajm చెప్పారు...: Boch care at; 28-12-25 3:42 PM
tcrosse చెప్పారు...: I spelled it with two c's and several t's, and it disappeared.; 28-12-25 3:43 PM
Mason G చెప్పారు...: Baccarat.; 28-12-25 3:53 PM
Mason G చెప్పారు...: Perplexity says:

"Blogger is likely auto-flagging the word “b@ccarat” as gambling-related content and hiding or filtering the post, especially if ads or certain safety settings are involved. Blogger uses Google-wide policies for “gambling and games,” so even a single keyword can trigger restrictions or visibility issues if the system thinks the post promotes real-money gambling."

FWIW...; 28-12-25 3:58 PM
narciso చెప్పారు...: Its in the opening of casino royale; 28-12-25 4:00 PM
narciso చెప్పారు...: ఈ కామెంట్‌ను రచయిత తీసివేశారు.; 28-12-25 4:00 PM
RCOCEAN II చెప్పారు...: Did Obama ever consider appointing him to a US District Court? He would've fit right in.

Amazing how much money you can lose/earn at poker when you have billionaires who will play you and loan you money. What's funny is not only was he lying on his tax return and stiffing Uncle sam, he was stealing from the law firm, and his creditors.

If we later learn he cheating at poker, i wouldn't be shocked. That "Texas Billionaire" and "Foreign Billionaire" should take a second look at the games they lost.; 28-12-25 4:12 PM
RCOCEAN II చెప్పారు...: And not suprisingly, he had some bimbos he was wining and dinning (4 of them at least) and slipping hundreds of thousands for "Services rendered". One of them got paid off after you got a lawyer, so you gotta what that was all about.; 28-12-25 4:14 PM
RCOCEAN II చెప్పారు...: These are the type of people who are running our legal system. But 'muricans worship lawyers and judges.; 28-12-25 4:14 PM
Mason G చెప్పారు...: "These are the type of people who are running our legal system. But 'muricans worship lawyers and judges."

If the past few years have demonstrated anything, it's that the judicial branch of the government is at least as big of a shit-show as the other branches and probably bigger.; 28-12-25 4:21 PM
Sebastian చెప్పారు...: Not covered in the article: TG contributions to Dems. How much? Why did the Biden admin go after him late in the game?; 28-12-25 4:24 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit చెప్పారు...: I didn’t know Althouse collects grandfather clocks.; 28-12-25 4:37 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit చెప్పారు...: Close; 28-12-25 4:38 PM
Hassayamper చెప్పారు...: A high school nerd can best blackjack with good rules.

No he can't, unless he's counting, which was invented in the days when a single deck was dealt almost to exhaustion, and statistical imbalances between the smaller number cards and face cards remaining in the deck could be detected by paying close attention to all cards dealt. Counting is essentially impossible now, with the six-deck and 8-deck shoes and frequent reshuffles that were brought in to thwart the card counters. And they will kick you out if they even suspect you are trying to count.

Mathematically optimal "Basic Strategy", played perfectly with every hand, gives the house a 0.5% advantage over time when blackjack pays 3:2, and about a 2% advantage when it pays 6:5. Even in the days when the rules were more liberal, and you could re-split aces multiple times, double after a split, and hit on split aces, the house would still be up over the long run by 0.3-0.4%.

Proof of what I'm saying is provided by the fact that you can ask a dealer in most casinos what the optimal basic-strategy move is for any hand, and get a truthful answer (assuming he or she is experienced enough to know, which is usually the case.) They may couch it as "The books all say you should hit that" or something along those lines to protect themselves, but they may not and will not knowingly lie to you.

I hear that some casinos are moving away from allowing this for liability reasons, but I never saw an outright refusal to give advice back in the days when I used to gamble. Well, that's not entirely true; they will get annoyed if you ask them on every hand, or bog down a large, fast game of big-tipping high rollers.; 28-12-25 4:38 PM
Jupiter చెప్పారు...: "Even if you have really good cards if there are 4 people still in it is unlikely you have a better than 50% of winning."
Maybe, but bluffing is still more effective if your opponent doesn't know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are bluffing.; 28-12-25 4:41 PM
Ralph L చెప్పారు...: His middle name is Che. Wikipedia doesn't say where he's from or who his daddy is, but he went to Chapel Hill and American U Law.; 28-12-25 5:12 PM
Firstgen చెప్పారు...: I met Tom some years back in a professional capacity
Very intelligent, pushed the edge when it came to getting in on a legal deal. Not surprised by all this, which was a big deal in legal circles.; 28-12-25 5:13 PM
Yancey Ward చెప్పారు...: Collusion is rampant in cash game poker- both live and on-line. Your best bet to avoid such tables is to play tournament poker where the table assignments are random.; 28-12-25 5:16 PM
tcrosse చెప్పారు...: As promised, our gracious hostess has restored the comments with the dreaded B word that the machine had shunted into spam.; 28-12-25 5:19 PM
narciso చెప్పారు...: I wondered why Bacharach would be gambling; 28-12-25 5:27 PM
rehajm చెప్పారు...: No he can't, unless he's counting

IOW yes rehajm, absolutely a high school nerd can beat blackjack with good rules. Conditions (rules) matter, none of that 6:5 which isn’t blackjack, no simulated dealers or shufflemasters, but multiple decks are still beatable, even 8 deck…; 28-12-25 7:03 PM
Eva Marie చెప్పారు...: “Your buddy is gonna go out the back of the casino and give you all your money back - minus a 10% fee for himself of course.
You get a wash bet. He gets 10% and Uncle Sam don't get nothing.”
That’s amazing. I never thought of that. I bet that happens a lot.; 28-12-25 7:32 PM
RCOCEAN II చెప్పారు...: Oh, I just noticed the NYT's article was written by Jeff - I'll pull my dick out and masturbate - toobin. Y'know the leftwing clown on CNN who never met a leftwing legal theory that wasn't completely right, or any Trump lawyer who wasn't completely wrong.

Evidently, the guy suspended by CNN for 7 months, is the only guy in the USA who can write Legal articles for the NYTs. No Cancel culture for "our crowd".; 28-12-25 7:43 PM
rehajm చెప్పారు...: the judicial branch of the government is at least as big of a shit-show as the other branches and probably bigger.

Definitely bigger. Even the most corrupt congress creatures pretend to be beholden to voters once in a while. The arrogance of the judiciary and the bar in the face of letting off their political friends is a big tell…; 28-12-25 7:44 PM
narciso చెప్పారు...: Protege of lawrence walsh and yes that too; 28-12-25 7:56 PM
john mosby చెప్పారు...: Ciso: “ I wondered why Bacharach would be gambling”

He definitely gambled when he divorced Angie Dickinson. CC, JSM; 28-12-25 8:20 PM
rehajm చెప్పారు...: Yah not sure what’s creepier- nyt gives him a gig or he still gets blog posts here…; 28-12-25 8:27 PM
rehajm చెప్పారు...: There are also ways to beat blackjack besides card counting, like shuffle tracking, and sometimes there temporary edges like cards accidentally marked during play or sloppy dealers…; 28-12-25 8:55 PM
Butkus51 చెప్పారు...: Jeffrey Toobin

allrighty then; 28-12-25 10:49 PM
Deep State Reformer చెప్పారు...: Gambling addiction is a curse that has done enormous damage to my family in particular and to American society in general. However, even so the modern American state apparatus will tolerate or even encourage any vice or addiction or depravity, if it means more money in their coffers, that's just a sad reality.; 29-12-25 10:15 AM
Deep State Reformer చెప్పారు...: Gamblers Ruin proof QED "Key Insight: In a fair game (p=0.5) against an opponent with infinite wealth (N \to \infty), the probability of ruin is 1. You will eventually go broke." And for all intents and purposes , the casino has unlimited funds compared with the average gambler.; 29-12-25 1:39 PM
Marcus Bressler చెప్పారు...: I have a gambling addiction (which is in remission SOMEWHAT as I still play a little lotto here and there). I went to GA (not Georgia, but Gamblers Anonymous). I can attest to what drives the addiction that ruins people's lives, not just their finances. It's called "being in the action" -- and not what you might think that is. It is not the positive anxiety of maybe winning. What draws in hardline gamblers is the idea that they have bet amounts that, if they lose, they cannot pay. So that keeps them out of casinos to a bit -- they may run up their credit card advances so high that they cannot make their monthly payments. While that eventually causes them problems, it is not that long-term high. It comes from bookmakers. A co-worked invited me to bet on football one season right after I stopped drinking. I traded one addiction for another. I was routinely betting money I did not have or could not come up with. Every weekend I bet $1,000 dollars on Saturday and again on Sunday, win or lose. Each was $100 a game. With the 10% vig on each losing bet, I would have to win 6 of the 10 to stay afloat -- and then only be $50 ahead. It fueled my addiction because I was on the TV all weekend watching for those running screen scores and going down my list each time to see how I was doing. I had NO way to pay a major loss by the next Wednesday when it was due. Sometimes I was just lucky and sometimes I had to wheel and deal to get the dough. My wife caught on and she had already got me to agree to an allowance with no way to access our "joint accounts". I eventually stole to pay a gambling debt and did not get caught until the wife called a long-distance number on our phone bill and spoke to my co-worker who she knew and he blabbed. I stopped then and there. That's the action. Knowing you might win (but always using it to stake more gambling, or that you narrowly escaped total danger. (more...); 29-12-25 6:43 PM
Marcus Bressler చెప్పారు...: Before I married my first wife, I would gamble jai-alai, sometimes in person, sometimes sending up one or two trifecta bets with a waiter who was a degenerate gamblers. Me, I just "dabbled". I only played the large payout bets and was willing to lose the $50 or more I sent. He would get 10% of what I won and since I was very lucky, he had no problem placing the bets for me. So one night he called me after midnight to tell me I had won the 1-3-7 trifecta for $1,752. I went out the next day and bought my fiancee a 1.1 carat (flawed) diamond engagement ring. I bet the dogs but the payouts were small. I hated the horses because it was so long between races. I did go twice, to feed my addiction, and on the second visit, I won about $1,500 on a trifecta. (Being lucky IS a way to jumpstart the addiction). Because the track (and other institutions) would withhold a percentage for the IRS, and because seniors over 65 were exempt from that policy, I paid a worker at my dad's marina-restaurant to collect for me. I paid him $100 in 1975.; 29-12-25 6:50 PM
Greg The Class Traitor చెప్పారు...: I read the documents when the case was first announced. He's toast, and deserves it.

and lost SCOTUSBlog because of it; 29-12-25 8:24 PM
Marcus Bressler చెప్పారు...: I have read some journals on gambling addiction and spoke to my therapist about it -- they say that the rush of wagering large amounts of money is very similar to the rush shoplifters get during the theft and leaving the establishment with their (usually) inexpensive booty (that they could have bought with the money they had on them. They rationalize it by "it's too expensive for that item" or a resentment against that particular store or chain. Plus the danger of being stopped and caught and the consequences that follow.; 29-12-25 9:24 PM
Marc in Eugene చెప్పారు...: Poor Amy.; 29-12-25 9:39 PM

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28 డిసెంబర్, 2025

"The first major turning point in Goldstein’s poker career came in 2008, when he put up the $10,000 fee to enter the World Series of Poker..."

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28 డిసెంబర్, 2025

"The first major turning point in Goldstein’s poker career came in 2008, when he put up the $10,000 fee to enter the World Series of Poker..."

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