Our guest this week is James Vogl. James is a former backgammon, and poker player (He won a WSOP bracelet at 24.) who then moved into the world of hedge funds. Now he has moved on from the trading world to start something called The Cerebral Gym.
podcast
Click to listen – Alt click to download
Show notes
[01:27] James Vogl’s backgammon career
[02:47] Are there still active backgammon club in London?
[03:55] What it was like transitioning into poker from Backgammon
[06:23] Poker books that stood out for James
[07:39] Why did Gus Hansen change his name?
[09:14] How long did James play poker before he got a real job?
[09:47] Did James play a lot of online poker?
[12:29] Hedge funds, computer, and math skills. What was James’ market?
[15:38] Did the fund keep track of P/L? How did James compare to S&P 500 over the years?
[17:15] Video Poker v.s. trading
[19:28] Why did James leave trading?
[20:23] Did his romantic relationships affect his decision to quit gambling?
[23:34] Gambling v.s. trading
[28:39] Do the traders look at themselves as gamblers?
[30:51] Is a press-up the same as a push-up?
[33:31] Does James find the various games he played different or similar?
[38:52] Does James see himself returning to the gambling world?
[47:47] James’ cheating encounters at gambling or trading
“Theory of poker” by David Sklansky: http://amzn.to/2BfhRi1
“Play Poker, Quit Work and Sleep Till Noon” by John Fox: http://amzn.to/2BBuwJ3
“Liar’s Poker” by Michael Lewis: http://amzn.to/2CHePzi
Cerebral Gym: http://www.cerebralgym.com/
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Good show! Trading has many parallels to gambling. I think games players and AP’s transition really well into trading because they have a proper mindset to do well. Trading is basically just taking calculated risk with the expectation after thousands of bets you will win. A lot of blackjack players have really been revolutionary in the space of trading (Hull and Thorp) and I think until recently a lot of people did not really know.