A stock market company is gambling on games of online poker to help it beat the financial crisis.
Trading company Manro Haydan plans to sponsor a group of poker players in an attempt to beat the credit crunch. Financially backing a number of players online, it promises to give those with the winning hands a cut of the profits.
Although it's not unheard of to see a player being funded by friends or work colleagues, the thought of established companies betting amounts of their own capital on online poker is a little unusual.
Despite a lukewarm reaction from casino gamblers, many of whom prefer to fund their own exploits around the virtual poker table, the firm are hopeful of attracting 150 players for the scheme.
Stock market investors are no strangers to playing against the odds. The shift away from traditional money making exercises should not come as a surprise to those who understand the odds behind games like poker and blackjack, with the Financial Times reporting that:
"By applying the sophisticated risk management techniques used in money management to poker it can shift the odds in [the investor's] favour."
Given the percentage of hedge fund managers that dabble in gambling, both in casinos and online, the odds look good in their favour. David Einhorn, founder of New York firm Greenlight Capital won $660,000 in the 2006 World Series of Poker.
Posted by Dan at 14:30 PM
labels: gambling stories, casino