John S. Goscinski THE STREET GAMBLE Hal Sweeny is streetwise as he is educated and has a passion for taking risks. His biggest risk is walking away from the only life hed ever known and marrying out of his social class. But when he hires on with Hkg Securities the prestigious New York Investment Banking firm owned by his father-in-law, with whom he has an irreversible strained relationship, he raises the stakes to a whole new level. One morning, three years into his newfangled life, he finds himself demonized by the same cast of characters who make a business out of destroying other peoples wealth. Embroiled in a world of trickery and deceit, overflowing with consummate liars and at odds with his own moral conscience, Hal must reach deep within himself to overcome his abiding sense of guilt, and outwit a den of thieves where the stakes are higher than he ever bargained for. Its the fall of 2002 and a bear market is raging out of control. Beckman Corporation, at the direction of its Investment advisor Hkg Securities is running a Street gamble, which it thinks it can win. But Hal Sweeny uncovers their game and must choose between family and career or standing up to the pervasive corruption on Wall Street, gone unchecked with relative impunity for many years. With the help of his assistant Mary, Hal unweaves a web of corporate malfeasance, spanning the far reaches of East Asia and the Caribbean and ending up on the gaming tables of Las Vegas. Besides telling a capricious story of how stock holder equity is lured away in pursuit of internet gaming riches, The Street Gamble does a masterful job drawing sleek comparisons between the risks investors face on Wall Street, everyday and those taken by gamblers pressing their luck at the brick and mortar casinos around the world. It also takes a well deserved critical look at some of Wall Streets despicable behavior that preceded the last bear market and the fraudulent wealth it helped create.

An ex–Wall Street trader improved on Moneyball’s famed sabermetrics and beat the Vegas odds with his own betting methods. Here is the story of how Joe Peta turned fantasy baseball into a dream come true. Joe Peta turned his back on his Wall Street trading career to pursue an ingenious—and incredibly risky—dream. He would apply his risk-analysis skills to Major League Baseball, and treat the sport like the S&P 500. In Trading Bases, Peta takes us on his journey from the ballpark in San Francisco to the trading floors and baseball bars of New York and the sportsbooks of Las Vegas, telling the story of how he created a baseball “hedge fund” with an astounding 41 percent return in his first year. And he explains the unique methods he developed. Along the way, Peta provides insight into the Wall Street crisis he managed to escape: the fragility of the midnineties investment model; the disgraced former CEO of Lehman Brothers, who recruited Peta; and the high-adrenaline atmosphere where million-dollar sports-betting pools were common.

John S. Goscinski THE STREET GAMBLE Hal Sweeny is streetwise as he is educated and has a passion for taking risks. His biggest risk is walking away from the only life he'd ever known and marrying out of his social class. But when he hires on with Hkg Securities the prestigious New York Investment Banking firm owned by his father-in-law, with whom he has an irreversible strained relationship, he raises the stakes to a whole new level. One morning, three years into his newfangled life, he finds himself demonized by the same cast of characters who make a business out of destroying other people's wealth. Embroiled in a world of trickery and deceit, overflowing with consummate liars and at odds with his own moral conscience, Hal must reach deep within himself to overcome his abiding sense of guilt, and outwit a den of thieves where the stakes are higher than he ever bargained for. It's the fall of 2002 and a bear market is raging out of control. Beckman Corporation, at the direction of its Investment advisor Hkg Securities is running a Street gamble, which it thinks it can win. But Hal Sweeny uncovers their game and must choose between family and career or standing up to the pervasive corruption on Wall Street, gone unchecked with relative impunity for many years. With the help of his assistant Mary, Hal unweaves a web of corporate malfeasance, spanning the far reaches of East Asia and the Caribbean and ending up on the gaming tables of Las Vegas. Besides telling a capricious story of how stock holder equity is lured away in pursuit of internet gaming riches, The Street Gamble does a masterful job drawing sleek comparisons between the risks investors face on Wall Street, everyday and those taken by gamblers pressing their luck at the brick and mortar casinos around the world. It also takes a well deserved critical look at some of Wall Street's despicable behavior that preceded the last bear market and the fraudulent wealth it helped create.

In 1956, two Bell Labs scientists discovered the scientific formula for getting rich. One was mathematician Claude Shannon, neurotic father of our digital age, whose genius is ranked with Einstein's. The other was John L. Kelly Jr., a Texas-born, gun-toting physicist. Together they applied the science of information theory—the basis of computers and the Internet—to the problem of making as much money as possible, as fast as possible. Shannon and MIT mathematician Edward O. Thorp took the "Kelly formula" to Las Vegas. It worked. They realized that there was even more money to be made in the stock market. Thorp used the Kelly system with his phenomenally successful hedge fund, Princeton-Newport Partners. Shannon became a successful investor, too, topping even Warren Buffett's rate of return. Fortune's Formula traces how the Kelly formula sparked controversy even as it made fortunes at racetracks, casinos, and trading desks. It reveals the dark side of this alluring scheme, which is founded on exploiting an insider's edge. Shannon believed it was possible for a smart investor to beat the market—and William Poundstone's Fortune's Formula will convince you that he was right.

The Secrets of the Shadow-Men Magic? It's for the rich, the powerful...the Archmage and his elite wizards and cloud-masters. Livak is not among them. She haunts the back taverns of the realm, careful to appear neither rich nor poor, neither tall nor short . . . neither man nor woman. Obscurity is her protection, thievery her livelihood, and gambling her weakness. Alas, some bets are hard to resist. Particularly when they offer a chance to board a ship for Hadrumal, the fabled city of the Archmage. So Livak follows a minor wizard, Shiv, in an attempt to turn a rune or two, never dreaming that the stolen tankard she wants to sell contains the secrets of an ancient magic far more powerful, and infinitely darker, than any mortal mage's spells.

The author recounts his experiences on the lucrative Wall Street bond market of the 1980s, where young traders made millions in a very short time, in a humorous account of greed and epic folly.

A history of betting on the East Side. Making it as a professional gambler in the first part of the twentieth century was a long shot, but wagering on the wide open scene of East St. Louis could help even the odds. Folks who were feeling lucky enough might grab a copy of Louis Cella's racing form, or get the inside scoop from turf men like Barney Schreiber. Students of the art of bookmaking had plentiful mentors in local legends like Adam "Mulepole" Fritz. But even then, a hot streak could attract the attention of a representative of the Chicago Outfit such as Frank "Buster" Wortman. The nephew of Vic and Jim Doyle, who built the Ringside Casino into the Midwest's largest casino, author James Doyle connects the dice rolls of bygone St. Louis Kingpins to high stakes players in New York and New Orleans.