Hi all, I am accepting investments into a bankroll for all of my poker play in 2014. It has been 10 years since I won the Main Event, and 21 years since I started playing poker. I still love the game, and am looking forward to a great year in 2014, and I would like you to be a part of that.
Since winning the Main Event in 2004, I have typically spent my summer at the Rio, playing 20-25 bracelet events, as well as other MTTs, satellites, and cash games. I have then spent the rest of the year with 60% of my time at home with my family and 40% on the road traveling around the U.S. and Internationally. From 2004-2011 I represented PokerStars, and much of my travel was international. Since the beginning of 2011, I have traveled mostly within the U.S., with my schedule being dictated primarily by where I book my poker training seminars.
In both cases, the rest of the year (that is, the part not at the WSOP in Las Vegas) has consisted of about 20-25 “major” tournaments, a handful of smaller events, and cash games.
Why am I selling pieces of my action?
Since I no longer receive a guaranteed source of income, my wife has become more and more nervous about me playing poker. Although I have a 21 year track record of winning results in both tournaments and cash games, she is not a poker player, and is worried that I will start losing. And without a paycheck to immediately recoup any losses, she gets anxious. So, to make her happy, I have chosen to sell off a big piece of my bankroll, so that the downside risk is a lot more limited. Even though this move is costing me EV, it is making up for that fact by providing marriage EV.
Prior to the 2004 Main Event, I had done something similar. I sold pieces of my action to a group of about 18 individuals, who bought 1-10 shares each, while I bought a much larger portion. We did this for a series of 4 consecutive 6-month periods, ending in the spring of 2004. For the first three periods, the share price went up by about 20% total. In the fourth period, the share price went up by about 6000%. Since then, I have played entirely on my own bankroll the large majority of the time. But now I wish to set up a deal similar to the one I played under from mid-2002 to mid-2004.
Some of the details
The six-month deals I played under in the early part of the century were set up so that if the bankroll lost money for the period, all investors lost equally. That is, if there were a total of 100 shares, and the net result at the end of the period was -$300, then each share lost $3, my shares included. So, on the losing side, I am at exactly the same risk as the other investors. If we were ahead at the end of the period, then as the player I received 35% of the net win, and the remaining 65% was then divided equally per share. Thus, if we had a period ending at +$300, then I would have received $105 as the player, then the remaining $195 would have been divided out at $1.95 per share. I like this kind of deal, as there is a finite period (in this case, the end of 2014), and I am incentivized properly. On the downside, I have every incentive to not chase losses, as further losses will result in direct harm to my own money, not just somebody else’s. But I am simultaneously being rewarded for winning play, and for the time and effort I put into it, not just the money I invested. Also, as compared to most deals, your money is not going to just have one shot at a win, but can potentially be turned over many times. The more we win, the more we can play, as well as play in larger events and games, which means we can win even more. Investors will have a few dozen chances at a huge score, and lots of time for the luck to even out a little bit (not that we’re ever going to get close to the “long run” in a statistical sense, but 40-50 tournaments and dozens of cash game sessions is a lot closer to the long run than investing in a single event). Because of the turnover of the bankroll, there is no way to do this deal using the concept of markup that I know most of you are used to seeing in this forum.
For 2014, I would like to offer to investors a similar deal. Since the time period is longer, it seems fair that the player share would go up, so I am setting it at 40%. That is, if we win, I get 40% of the profit as the player, and the investors (including me) will split the 60%. If we lose, all investors will lose equally according to the number of shares they purchased.
I am looking to raise a total bankroll of at least $100K, and shares will be sold at a price of $1000 per unit. I will be buying at least 20 shares myself. Also, no expenses will be deducted from the bankroll, and are entirely up to me to pay myself. Many of my expenses are comped anyway, and it would be a huge inconvenience to have to keep the records as to which expenses were comped, and which should come out of the bankroll. I also don’t want to hassle with things like if I were to credit-card roulette for a meal, how much should be charged to the bankroll (win or lose). Heck, I don’t even want to hassle with something like having an investor feel I should have chosen a less expensive flight, hotel, or meal. The non-payment of expenses out of the bankroll is also part of the reason I increased the player share to 40%. As it is now, investors will be able to participate in tournaments and cash games played around the country at no extra expense above the buy-in.
At the end of the year, investors will be paid right away according to the results achieved. If we are ahead, you will have your entire investment returned, plus your share of the profits. If we are behind, you will have the remaining portion of your investment returned, if any. If the profit is significant, I may require you to provide me with your SSN and other information for tax purposes. Any profit you make will be your responsibility with respect to taxes, as I will only be filing my share of the total profit to the IRS and state tax authorities. If they ask me why it was reported online that I won $200,000, but am claiming to have won less on my tax return, the situation will be explained, and the proper information will be provided to these agents (i.e., names and information about the investors who shared in the profit). So, if you intend to try to avoid paying taxes on money won, you should not choose to participate in this investment.
If you are seriously interested
Please send me a PM here on 2+2 with your email address and real name. I will contact you by email, answer any questions you may have, and discuss payment options.
I will be emailing a report to the investors about once a month throughout the year, with results as well as stories and hand histories from the games I competed in. During the WSOP, report emails will come more often, about once every week or two. Back in the investment deal from 2002-04, the investors were all very happy with the final result, as you would imagine. However, many of them later told me that even though I had been winning for them, the main reason they continued their investment was the fact that they really enjoyed the monthly email reports. While I can’t promise anything, I will try to make them fact-filled and entertaining.
Thanks, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)
Last edited by Rainbow Warrior; 01-13-2014 at 05:30 AM.