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Trump says Iran asked him to lift sanctions in order to meet, he said no

  
Analysis, Politics
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The Iran side wasn’t bluffing

That’s what they said all along.
All the talk about a meeting was truly much ado about nothing.
What’s surprised me in Trump’s presidency is what world leaders will give up just for a meeting. In the infamous call with Ukraine’s leader, all the back channels were about securing a move on the prosecutor before a call. Then on the call, Trump wanted more in order to meet. What’s so great about meeting the President?

Day Trading & Poker

  
  Education
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PokerandtradingI learned how to play poker at a very young age.  You don’t just play every hand and stay through every card, because if you do, you will have a much higher probability of losing. You should play the good hands, and drop out of the poor hands, forfeiting the ante. When more of the cards are on the table and you have a very strong hand — in other words, when you feel the percentages are skewed in your favor — you raise and play that hand to the hilt.If you apply the same principles of poker strategy to trading, it increases your odds of winning significantly.
I have always tried to keep the concept of patience in mind by waiting for the right trade, just like you wait for the percentage hand in poker. If a trade doesn’t look right, you get out and take a small loss; it’s precisely equivalent to forfeiting the ante by dropping out of a poor hand in poker. On the other hand, when the percentages seem to be strongly in your favor, you should be aggressive and really try to leverage the trade similar to the way you raise on the good hands in poker.

20 Poker Quotes -Traders Must Read

  
  Education
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Poker is one of the very few casino games that’s like trading. Unlike other games where the casino keeps the odds in their favor, in poker there are many ways to get an edge over other players at the poker table. The way you play the odds can give you an edge, folding on bad hands quickly and playing the best hands only give you an advantage. Managing risk per hand can keep you in the game while others blow out. Sticking with the odds instead of letting emotions take over is another big advantage over other players. I have a buddy that plays well in poker tournaments and it is odd how we can talk about the same elements of strategy that matches both endeavors. Both poker and most financial markets are zero sum games where money flows from those who do not know how the game works to those who do.

  •  “Living in the past is a Jethro Tull album, not a smart poker strategy.” -Richard Roeper
  • “The beautiful thing about poker is that everybody thinks they can play.” -Chris MoneyMaker
  • “If there weren’t luck involved, I would win every time.” — Phil Hellmuth
  • “If you can’t spot the sucker in the first half hour at the table, then you are the sucker.” — Matt Damon in Rounders
  • “The cardinal sin in poker, worse than playing did cards, worse even than figuring your odds correctly, is becoming emotionally involved.” -Katy Lederer
  • “You cannot survive without that intangible quality we call heart. The mark of a top player is not how much he wins when he is winning but how he handles his losses. If you win for thirty days in a row, that makes no difference if on the thirty-first you have a bad night, go crazy, and throw it all away.” -Bobby Baldwin
  • “When we play, we must realize, before anything else, that we are out to make money.” -David Sklansky
  • “Poker may be a branch of psychological warfare, an art form or indeed a way of life – but it is also merely a game, in which money is simply the means of keeping score.” -Anthony Holden
  • “The real things to know is that folks will stand to lose more than they will to win. That’s the most important percentage there is. I mean, if they lose, they’re willing to lose everything. If they win, they’re usually satisfied to win enough to pay for dinner and a show. The best gamblers know that.” -Pug Pearson
  • “Poker reveals to the frank observer something else of import—it will teach him about his own nature. Many bad players do not improve because the cannot bear self-knowledge.” -David Mamet

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20 Poker Quotes that Apply To Trading Too

  
  Education
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Poker is one of the very few casino games that are like trading. Unlike other games where the casino keeps the odds in their favor in poker there are many ways to get an edge over other players at the poker table. The way you play the odds can give you an edge, folding on bad hands quickly and playing the best hands only give you an advantage. Managing risk per hand can keep you in the game while others blow out. Sticking with the odds instead of letting emotions take over is another big advantage over other players. I have a buddy that plays well in poker tournaments and it is odd how we can talk about the same elements of strategy that matches both endeavors. Both poker and most financial markets are zero sum games where money flows from those who do not know how the game works to those who do.

  1.  “Living in the past is a Jethro Tull album, not a smart poker strategy.” -Richard Roeper
  2. “The beautiful thing about poker is that everybody thinks they can play.” -Chris MoneyMaker
  3. “If there weren’t luck involved, I would win every time.” — Phil Hellmuth
  4. “If you can’t spot the sucker in the first half hour at the table, then you are the sucker.” — Matt Damon in Rounders
  5. “The cardinal sin in poker, worse than playing did cards, worse even than figuring your odds correctly, is becoming emotionally involved.” -Katy Lederer
  6. “You cannot survive without that intangible quality we call heart. The mark of a top player is not how much he wins when he is winning but how he handles his losses. If you win for thirty days in a row, that makes no difference if on the thirty-first you have a bad night, go crazy, and throw it all away.” -Bobby Baldwin (more…)

The Greatest Investment Book Ever Written

  
  Education
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No, I’m not talking about Security Analysis or Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham or even Greenblatt’s You Can Be a Stock Market Genius.  I’m talking about Doyle Brunson’s Super System: A Course in Power Poker.  
OK, so the title of this post is a bit of an exaggeration and yes, there are probably tons of better poker books out there now post-extended-poker-boom.  The first edition of this book was published in 1978.  The connection between poker and trading is nothing new.  Just google “poker and trading” and there’s a lot of stuff out there; how poker guys started hedge funds, how a hedge fund guy became a poker guy, how they are similar/different, what can be learned from one or the other etc.   And the connection between gambling and trading was well documented in Fortune’s Formula.
But I just wanted to make a post about this book because I’m starting to reread it again (don’t ask).  I am not a poker player, but I remember reading this book a few years ago having borrowed it from a poker-playing friend.  Knowing that many traders and investors are very good poker players, I wanted to see what I can learn from reading about poker. 
I remember falling out of my chair at the similiarites between poker and investing.  I come from more of a trading background than an investing one and what was written in this book, particularly the early chapter “General Poker Strategy”,  has great advice that applies to traders and investors too.   I would make that chapter required reading along with the other investment “must reads”.
Anyway, here are some comments about what Brunson talks about in this chapter by sections.  I only comment on some of the stuff so this isn’t a summary of the chapter by any means.  (more…)

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