I N V E S T I N G
portunity tobuy in for lotsofmoneyagainst
anamateur, a contingent of topplayershad
such an enormous edge that they couldn’t
possibly turn it down. But asAmarilloSlim
Preston once said, “Sometimes, the lambs
slaughter thebutcher,” andnoneof thepros
could individually afford to take the risk—
especially when going up against someone
with banker-size resources. So they put to-
gether a syndicate of players/investors and
together, with a few of the players going
heads-up against the billionaire, managed
towinmanymillions of dollars.
Eli Elezra, a high-stakes poker player
whowas part of the group thatwas dubbed
the Corporation, served as the pros’ point
person for oneof theprofitable showdowns
against the Texas banker. Each of 20 in-
vestors put in $500,000, and it was left to
Elezra to collect themoney and transport it
to the site of the game. Elezrahad$10mil-
liononhim, all in$25,000 chips.He casu-
ally carried the loot in a shopping bag, tak-
ing it from the Bellagio to a second casino
on theStrip,where thegamewas scheduled
to take place. Nobody outside their tight
circleknew that themoneywasbeing trans-
ported, but, just tobe sure, Elezradrovehis
Escaladeandwas followedbya second car.
Days later, after everything had gone as
planned, theCorporationamassed$27mil-
lion, for a profit of $17million. Concerned
about security,Elezra receivedanarmedes-
cort out of the casinoand toawaiting limo,
which whisked him back to the Bellagio.
Withinminutes, the winnings were carved
upanda freshpoker gamewas inaction.
AS colorfulAS ThAT SouNdS
,
itwas an
extremelyunusual situation.More typical is
thebackingof individualplayers forsmaller
stakes. And the business of backing is not
limited to poker. Good golfers with small
bankrollsorminimalgambling instinctsare
frequently staked. Games getmade,money
is put up, and at the end of the round, pro-
ceeds are chopped between players and in-
vestors. “The split can vary,” says a young
golfer who enjoys this sort of backing by
one of theworld’s toppoker pros. “I get 40
percent of thewinnings. That’s pretty good
when you consider that we frequently play
for$10,000perhole,” he says.
What happens if you lose? “There is a
makeupnumber. Thismeans that I have to
winbackwhatwe’ve blownbefore I can re-
sumegettingmy cut.Otherwise, it’snot fair
to the investor.Youcan’texpecthim tocarry
all thedownside.”
The time frame of your investment in a
gambler’s activities can vary. Sometimes,
investors will buy a piece of a player for
one year at a time. That was the case with
GregRaymer,whowenton towin the2004
WorldSeries of Poker. A coupleof years be-
fore winning the WSOP, he sold pieces of
himself for $500 per share. Raymer, who
maintained a day job as a patent attorney
butwasalsoa seriousamateurpokerplayer,
wanted to increasehis$15,000pokerbank-
roll without tapping into his savings. The
dealwas structured so that if he lostmoney
at the table, all investors lost evenly. If he
won, he got 35 percent for time and effort,
and the remainder was split among the in-
vestors, includinghimself.
Most of the people who kicked in were
friends of Raymer, though some outsiders
steppedupaswell. Initially, the resultswere
lackluster. During the first year, Raymer’s
investors lost $12 per share. A year after
that, he finished ahead by $67 per share.
So someonewhowas in from thebeginning
made $55 per $500 investment. Not bad
butnot exactlygreat either.Then, theunex-
pected happened: Raymer won theWSOP,
and suddenly, each of those $500 shares
was worth $36,300. Raymer’s biggest in-
vestor cashedout for$363,000.
Was Raymer bummed about having to
share his winnings? “Not at all,” he replied
at the time. “I was happy to do it.Without
the backers, I might not have been able to
play in theWorldSeries.”
Raymer, whono longer needs tohave in-
vestors, knewenough to cover all eventuali-
ties in writing. Though professional poker
players are notorious for making major
dealswithnothingmore than a handshake
— burly proGavin Smith, for example, has
been backed in tournaments for years and
haswon close to$4million since 2005but
hasnothingdocumented inwritingandhas
had no issues with the professional gam-
blerwho stakes him— it’s probably best to
have the termsmappedout, especially if the
sums ofmoney canbe substantial.
Just ask Crispin Leyser, who claimed to
have a verbal agreement with Jamie Gold
for half of Gold’s 2006 WSOP winnings.
Of course, when the deal was made, nei-
ther party expectedGold towin that year’s
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