People... we have finally found the LORD of CARDS (not lord of poker). One who has given new meaning to word "lucky" and a new dimension to "beating the odds".
Last night's devastation (for the co-players) was unprecedented and unexpected. The game started at Midnight. The sleepy-faced young man looked slightly not-in-the-mood and just a tad bored as he eased into a sofa. The sun had long since set, and it was freezing cold outside. Rani Mukherjee's "kachi kaliyan mat todo" was playing in the background, and a ninja was sitting calmly besides the LORD with his high stack of chips and all was going just about ok till 2 AM … but then something changed.
The LORD brutally started hitting the fellow players with sequences, pure-sequences and three-of-a-kinds. This, friends, was just the beginning. The LORD then did something that we have only heard in the folklores. In one shot he cleaned 75% of the treasure chest of the ninja, who seemed like a feeble mouse holding a K and Q in front of the mighty pocket ACES of THE LORD. Then like an artist in the VERY NEXT hand, The LORD, cleaned up all the chips of the cured-by-pudin-hara-host. I urge you to GUESS the cards that LORD had……… Well what ever you guessed was wrong, because the LORD had ANOTHER POCKET ACES and the cured-by-pudin-hara-host had another K and Q.
Just in case you haven’t fathomed the miniscule odds of this event - let me do the math for you.
The odds that you'll get pocket aces twice in a row:
That is (4/52)/(3/51) or around 220 to 1 times two which is the 48400. So the odds that LORD beat here are 48400:1
LORD finished the job with squashing the already disheartened ninja with a trip of 7s.
Although the sour losers, cured-by-pudin-hara-host and ninja, cried foul, conspired not pay the money and vowed to not play poker again.
But as the morning came, we saw error of our ways. So we have to do what is fair… we saw the LORD in action and we have to pay the tribute to that - so cured-by-pudin-hara-host will honor the $10 game and payup with humility.
May the LORD continue to freak us all out!
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Lambs or par·ty poop·er?
Lambs or par·ty poop·er?
I know you have been dying to get an answer to this question. But before we answer above question, lets understand the meaning of Party Pooper.
Word type: Noun
Basic meaning: One who declines to participate with enthusiasm, especially in the recreational activities of a group.
Synonyms: killjoy, spoilsport, wet blanket
Colloquialism behind the word - a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech i.e. fuss-budget, fusspot.
Now we have the definition – it is time to evaluate the circumstances.
Season – Holiday season with pretty much nothing else to do. No outings are possible as snow storms are frequent. The only sane thing to do is play poker or pool.
History – The Lambs has a history of going out to Pravda’s and Ki’s on his own as well as uncle Sam’s dime. He has often been sighted late nights sleeping in union station dumpsters after drinking wee bit more than he can handle. Last sighting of this creature was two weeks ago when he went out with a large group of accountants and came back stinking like fish! The very next day, he had no recollection of the events of previous day – clearly excessive partying flows in the blood of this creature.
Occasion (s) of allegation –
Day 1: Mr. temporarily-bachelored-currently-on-loosing-spree-dhiman set up a poker game on Monday.
Day 2: Mr. work-from-home-calculating-machine-narula set up a play poker/ pool on Tuesday along with a standing offer to go to Red Lobster or Montanas.
RESULTS FOR BOTH DAYS: The pooper pooped citing a range of reasons including one which sounded like a third grader talking to his Barbie carrying girlfriend – imagine a girly voice saying - “mein nahi khelunga, mene home work karma hai!!”
Based on the definitions and circumstantial evidence it is clear that although Lambs, the creature, is clearly up for partying, but on last two occasions he displayed clear characteristics of a pooper.
So from now till eternity, we the group of 2, rule that Lambs does qualify with flying colors to be named Party Pooper. The honor is befitting as it is glorifying. It is no less magnificent than the once in 25 year coast-to-coast white Christmas in Canada. In line with such marvelous tribute we have to find a crown that does justice to the status of party pooper.
Here is the crown of almighty party pooper:
I know you have been dying to get an answer to this question. But before we answer above question, lets understand the meaning of Party Pooper.
Word type: Noun
Basic meaning: One who declines to participate with enthusiasm, especially in the recreational activities of a group.
Synonyms: killjoy, spoilsport, wet blanket
Colloquialism behind the word - a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech i.e. fuss-budget, fusspot.
Now we have the definition – it is time to evaluate the circumstances.
Season – Holiday season with pretty much nothing else to do. No outings are possible as snow storms are frequent. The only sane thing to do is play poker or pool.
History – The Lambs has a history of going out to Pravda’s and Ki’s on his own as well as uncle Sam’s dime. He has often been sighted late nights sleeping in union station dumpsters after drinking wee bit more than he can handle. Last sighting of this creature was two weeks ago when he went out with a large group of accountants and came back stinking like fish! The very next day, he had no recollection of the events of previous day – clearly excessive partying flows in the blood of this creature.
Occasion (s) of allegation –
Day 1: Mr. temporarily-bachelored-currently-on-loosing-spree-dhiman set up a poker game on Monday.
Day 2: Mr. work-from-home-calculating-machine-narula set up a play poker/ pool on Tuesday along with a standing offer to go to Red Lobster or Montanas.
RESULTS FOR BOTH DAYS: The pooper pooped citing a range of reasons including one which sounded like a third grader talking to his Barbie carrying girlfriend – imagine a girly voice saying - “mein nahi khelunga, mene home work karma hai!!”
Based on the definitions and circumstantial evidence it is clear that although Lambs, the creature, is clearly up for partying, but on last two occasions he displayed clear characteristics of a pooper.
So from now till eternity, we the group of 2, rule that Lambs does qualify with flying colors to be named Party Pooper. The honor is befitting as it is glorifying. It is no less magnificent than the once in 25 year coast-to-coast white Christmas in Canada. In line with such marvelous tribute we have to find a crown that does justice to the status of party pooper.
Here is the crown of almighty party pooper:
Monday, December 22, 2008
New Poker Rankings...
Buzz is... Sandy is loosing and is pissed for no reason... and Nipun is winning and is happy for good reason. Well, its about time that winnings get apportioned to all!
In that spirit Nipun the invincible Lamb(a) is on a killing winning spree, crushing everything that comes in his way.
The lean-mean-working-from-home-calculating-machine, a.ka. Mr. Narula is also holding his fort at firm second position. His strategies are elusive and ephemeral as he moves from "I never raise at big blind" to "here is 20 more than big blind". As a veteran in 'strategy-practice' Mr. Narula conquers while he bewilders his opponents.
Here are the recent rankings:
The lean-mean-working-from-home-calculating-machine, a.ka. Mr. Narula is also holding his fort at firm second position. His strategies are elusive and ephemeral as he moves from "I never raise at big blind" to "here is 20 more than big blind". As a veteran in 'strategy-practice' Mr. Narula conquers while he bewilders his opponents.
Here are the recent rankings:
Friday, December 12, 2008
Poker Tally - Till December 11th, 2008
Gents and others,
Here is the most recent tally of poker rankings. Don't be shocked at the near insane frequency of games in previous week (we played EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK!!!). It is just a sign of temporary bachelorhood, love for poker and freeze-your-privates winter.
Plus - given that wives are part of this blog - I would like the opportunity to say that - since we are playing poker each day of the week - you know what EXACTLY are we are up to when you are away. :)
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Winter is here... so its Poker I hear...
Gents,
The poker season is upon us as evident by the third consecutive weeknight poker games. Today's post is just to revive the blog and post the poker rankings.
Also, here is a great poker quote:
If, after the first twenty minutes, you don't know who the sucker at the table is, it's you. ~Author Unknown
Good luck this season.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Wait is over - Mr. Okinola Hindokaloo from Zimbabwe is here!!
Dear blog members,
We are very pleased to announce that Mr. Okinola Hindokaloo from Zimbabwe has agreed to join our blissful little group in Toronto and bless us with his charming looks and secrets of skin care.
Although Mr. Hindokaloo's tribe members are missing him dearly, for lack of procreational alternatives and all that, but Mr. Hindokaloo has decided to venture the far shores of this country we call Canada and Mr. Hidokaloo's tribe calls KANATA.
There will be a series of events organized in honor of Mr. Hidokaloo, starting first with "how to reduce years by applying crap on your face". Advance ticket sales have begun... contact your area representative and ask for OKINOLA SPECIAL for a 30% discount.
Thanks,
Admin.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Good column in NY Times....
August 26, 2008
Summer Story Lines Have Legs
By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN
It’s that time of year again, the last week of summer on Wall Street. Getting a table at San Pietro is easy; a tee time at Maidstone Club in East Hampton, less so. With the Street virtually empty, except for all those Lehman Brothers executives working the phones in search of a buyer, it’s worth reflecting on the crisis gripping the financial world and trying to peer around the corner to see what will happen when everyone gets back to business after Labor Day.
•
When will Lehman Brothers die?
Judging by the headlines, you’d think the troubled investment bank would go belly up any day now. In fact, it probably never will.
Lehman may not be too big to fail, but it may be too important to fail. Why? Because Richard S. Fuld Jr., Lehman’s chairman and chief executive, is too important. He is a member of an exclusive club: the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
It’s hard to believe that the Fed would let one of its own fail the way Bear Stearns did. Another member of club Fed, James Dimon, JPMorgan Chase’s chief executive, was handed the deal of a lifetime. Alan D. Schwartz of Bear Stearns? Not a member.
Given Mr. Fuld’s access to Fed chief Ben S. Bernanke and Mr. Bernanke’s man on Wall Street, Timothy F. Geithner, Mr. Fuld is in a much better position than his rivals to keep his firm alive. A prediction: Watch the Fed’s discount window for loans to brokerage firms. It won’t close until Mr. Fuld is out of the woods.
•
While we’re on the subject of Lehman, there’s a good reason bidders are balking at buying the firm’s Neuberger Berman money management unit.
Any bidder has to pay for Neuberger twice. “You’ve got to pay Lehman, and then you’ve got to pay again to keep the brokers from leaving,” said one banker who has been poking around Lehman on behalf of a bidder.
Unlike some rival asset managers, like BlackRock, for example, which has institutionalized its business, Neuberger Berman is still run as dozens of fiefs. If the buyer doesn’t pay up to keep Neuberger’s talent, the employees — and their clients’ money — will walk out the door.
•
One last Lehman-related thought: Last Friday, a spokesman for Korea Development Bank was quoted by Reuters as saying: “We are studying a number of options and are open to all possibilities, which could include [buying] Lehman.” The brackets and the word “buying” were included in the Reuters report.
Lehman’s stock jumped almost 15 percent that day as investors rushed into the stock on the basis of the word in brackets before it settled down to about a 5 percent gain.
The same spokesman told The New York Times and a half dozen other media outlets that he had been misquoted in the Reuters article. “Such reports are erroneous,” he said. Lehman’s stock has since fallen back to where it was before the article was published.
Nuance can often get lost in translation, and who knows what was really supposed to be in those brackets. But the episode illustrates just how fast both good and bad information can move the markets.
•
When Wall Street seeks to save money — “every dollar saved is a dollar made,” is the current catchphrase — it often turns to management consultants to help figure out which divisions should stay and which should go.
So McKinsey & Company published a helpful report last week on how investment banks can cut up to $2 billion in noncompensation costs. (We wouldn’t want to cut compensation, would we?)
“Initiatives to curb expenditures need not be extremely demoralizing to frontline employees,” McKinsey says, trying to find ways to save money without affecting the worker bees. So what does it recommend? Getting rid of the consultants. Yep, you read that correctly.
•
An addendum to my column last week about Ronald G. Insana, the CNBC anchor turned investor who shut down his fund: A number of readers seemed to miss the point of the column. Mr. Insana was not a bad investment manager, nor is he a dumb guy. He’s actually a very thoughtful investor whose fund was down only 5 percent when the market was down some 15 percent. That’s a pretty good performance — much better, in fact, than some more experienced managers. He took a chance and it didn’t work. Give him a bit of credit.
The point of the column was to illustrate why the economics of starting a small hedge fund are so difficult and so different from the big guys, who get paid no matter what their performance.
The point was made even clearer later in the week when Daniel C. Benton of Andor Capital Management said he was closing his fund. Mr. Benton, a disciple of Arthur J. Samberg at Pequot Capital, had a $6 billion fund in 2002. Now, with a series of redemptions and lousy performance, his fund is worth some $2 billion.
Even so, Mr. Benton, a one-time star technology investor, made tens of millions of dollars because of his 2 percent management fee. There’s a bit more to the story, but Mr. Benton offers the starkest cautionary tale yet.
•
A brief forecast on Freddie Mae and Fannie Mac: Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. will nationalize them within the next two weeks, but he won’t wipe out all the stakeholders, even if they deserve to be. The debt holders and the preferred shareholders will make out like bandits. A “moral hazard” will always exist, but the government may end up saving some of the rich to save the poor.
•
And finally: If timing is everything, then Amit Chatwani should be happy he isn’t a stock picker.
Mr. Chatwani is the author of a new book called “Damn It Feels Good to Be a Banker.” The subtitle is: “And Other Baller Things You Only Get to Say If You Work on Wall Street.”
Mr. Chatwani’s book is supposed to be a joke — sort of. He writes it as if he is a egomaniacal banker on Wall Street, though in truth, he’s a consultant who wrote a popular blog called Leveraged Sell-Out.
The book is a sometimes hilarious effort to mock Wall Street, back when bonuses were still something to look forward to. Now, the laughs come because of the irony. A sample from the preface: “I’m not writing this book for money; I bonused ten times the advance I got for this my first year out of school.” He then goes on to say, “Dad, thanks for not letting me study liberal arts.”
If you can get over the juvenile humor and some cringe-worthy moments, you can transport yourself back to pre-2007. It might make you smile at the beach this week.
Summer Story Lines Have Legs
By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN
It’s that time of year again, the last week of summer on Wall Street. Getting a table at San Pietro is easy; a tee time at Maidstone Club in East Hampton, less so. With the Street virtually empty, except for all those Lehman Brothers executives working the phones in search of a buyer, it’s worth reflecting on the crisis gripping the financial world and trying to peer around the corner to see what will happen when everyone gets back to business after Labor Day.
•
When will Lehman Brothers die?
Judging by the headlines, you’d think the troubled investment bank would go belly up any day now. In fact, it probably never will.
Lehman may not be too big to fail, but it may be too important to fail. Why? Because Richard S. Fuld Jr., Lehman’s chairman and chief executive, is too important. He is a member of an exclusive club: the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
It’s hard to believe that the Fed would let one of its own fail the way Bear Stearns did. Another member of club Fed, James Dimon, JPMorgan Chase’s chief executive, was handed the deal of a lifetime. Alan D. Schwartz of Bear Stearns? Not a member.
Given Mr. Fuld’s access to Fed chief Ben S. Bernanke and Mr. Bernanke’s man on Wall Street, Timothy F. Geithner, Mr. Fuld is in a much better position than his rivals to keep his firm alive. A prediction: Watch the Fed’s discount window for loans to brokerage firms. It won’t close until Mr. Fuld is out of the woods.
•
While we’re on the subject of Lehman, there’s a good reason bidders are balking at buying the firm’s Neuberger Berman money management unit.
Any bidder has to pay for Neuberger twice. “You’ve got to pay Lehman, and then you’ve got to pay again to keep the brokers from leaving,” said one banker who has been poking around Lehman on behalf of a bidder.
Unlike some rival asset managers, like BlackRock, for example, which has institutionalized its business, Neuberger Berman is still run as dozens of fiefs. If the buyer doesn’t pay up to keep Neuberger’s talent, the employees — and their clients’ money — will walk out the door.
•
One last Lehman-related thought: Last Friday, a spokesman for Korea Development Bank was quoted by Reuters as saying: “We are studying a number of options and are open to all possibilities, which could include [buying] Lehman.” The brackets and the word “buying” were included in the Reuters report.
Lehman’s stock jumped almost 15 percent that day as investors rushed into the stock on the basis of the word in brackets before it settled down to about a 5 percent gain.
The same spokesman told The New York Times and a half dozen other media outlets that he had been misquoted in the Reuters article. “Such reports are erroneous,” he said. Lehman’s stock has since fallen back to where it was before the article was published.
Nuance can often get lost in translation, and who knows what was really supposed to be in those brackets. But the episode illustrates just how fast both good and bad information can move the markets.
•
When Wall Street seeks to save money — “every dollar saved is a dollar made,” is the current catchphrase — it often turns to management consultants to help figure out which divisions should stay and which should go.
So McKinsey & Company published a helpful report last week on how investment banks can cut up to $2 billion in noncompensation costs. (We wouldn’t want to cut compensation, would we?)
“Initiatives to curb expenditures need not be extremely demoralizing to frontline employees,” McKinsey says, trying to find ways to save money without affecting the worker bees. So what does it recommend? Getting rid of the consultants. Yep, you read that correctly.
•
An addendum to my column last week about Ronald G. Insana, the CNBC anchor turned investor who shut down his fund: A number of readers seemed to miss the point of the column. Mr. Insana was not a bad investment manager, nor is he a dumb guy. He’s actually a very thoughtful investor whose fund was down only 5 percent when the market was down some 15 percent. That’s a pretty good performance — much better, in fact, than some more experienced managers. He took a chance and it didn’t work. Give him a bit of credit.
The point of the column was to illustrate why the economics of starting a small hedge fund are so difficult and so different from the big guys, who get paid no matter what their performance.
The point was made even clearer later in the week when Daniel C. Benton of Andor Capital Management said he was closing his fund. Mr. Benton, a disciple of Arthur J. Samberg at Pequot Capital, had a $6 billion fund in 2002. Now, with a series of redemptions and lousy performance, his fund is worth some $2 billion.
Even so, Mr. Benton, a one-time star technology investor, made tens of millions of dollars because of his 2 percent management fee. There’s a bit more to the story, but Mr. Benton offers the starkest cautionary tale yet.
•
A brief forecast on Freddie Mae and Fannie Mac: Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. will nationalize them within the next two weeks, but he won’t wipe out all the stakeholders, even if they deserve to be. The debt holders and the preferred shareholders will make out like bandits. A “moral hazard” will always exist, but the government may end up saving some of the rich to save the poor.
•
And finally: If timing is everything, then Amit Chatwani should be happy he isn’t a stock picker.
Mr. Chatwani is the author of a new book called “Damn It Feels Good to Be a Banker.” The subtitle is: “And Other Baller Things You Only Get to Say If You Work on Wall Street.”
Mr. Chatwani’s book is supposed to be a joke — sort of. He writes it as if he is a egomaniacal banker on Wall Street, though in truth, he’s a consultant who wrote a popular blog called Leveraged Sell-Out.
The book is a sometimes hilarious effort to mock Wall Street, back when bonuses were still something to look forward to. Now, the laughs come because of the irony. A sample from the preface: “I’m not writing this book for money; I bonused ten times the advance I got for this my first year out of school.” He then goes on to say, “Dad, thanks for not letting me study liberal arts.”
If you can get over the juvenile humor and some cringe-worthy moments, you can transport yourself back to pre-2007. It might make you smile at the beach this week.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Things boys do to impress girls!
Its embarrassing I know - but these two blokes were trying to impress their respective wives... marriage is not always easy :).
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