Hedge Fund Manager Wins $710,000 Playing Blackjack in Vegas
By Jason McIntyre
Who doesn’t dream of a hot streak like this? Michael Geismar is a Hedge Fund Manager. He’s the President of a $4.6 billion firm. Here’s what happened to him on a recent trip of his to Vegas for a conference:
"He sat down at a $100 minimum, $10,000 maximum bet table … at about 10 pm. He arranged for a $10,000 marker, casino-speak for a credit line, which promptly put $10,000 worth of chips on the table for him. Geismar put down $300 and the dealer turned over the first card. Geismar had doubled his money to about $20,000. He then started to bet larger amounts with every winning hand, first $1,000, then $2,000 or $3,000. He also scaled down his bets after one losing hand, using laws of averages but not card counting. That basic scaling strategy worked well, and Geismar got to about $200,000 early Wednesday morning. By that point he was up so much he bet $10,000 for every hand, win or lose. And he kept winning."
At the end of the night, Geismar cashed out $460,00, and was given “bricks” of $100 bills. After suffering some losses the next three times out, Geismar hit it big one again, this time “backing up” the bets of players at the table who had hot hands. Geismar won $410,000 during this stretch.
Final winnings: $710,000 over three days after starting with $10,000. A return of 7,100 percent. [AR via WSJ]