Josh Axelrad on The Moth

Richard Munchkin

Well-Known Member
#1
Josh played for a very large BJ team, (not MIT) and I think may have been a poster here. He wrote a book called Repeat Until Rich. Anyway, I am a big fan of The Moth. The Moth is a place where people get up every month and tell stories. I highly recommend you check them out at themoth.org, and here is Josh telling a story about his blackjack playing and then his descent into degenerate poker playing.

(Dead link: http://cdn.themoth.prx.org/moth-podcast-189-josh-axelrad.mp3)
 

HsiaoDi

Well-Known Member
#3
If I remember correctly he was addicted to online poker, did he ever recover... would love to know what happen since the publishing of his book.....
 

WRX

Well-Known Member
#6
HsiaoDi said:
If I remember correctly he was addicted to online poker, did he ever recover... would love to know what happen since the publishing of his book.....
He SEEMED to be recovered as of the publishing of his book, but you never know when these things can recur. Actually, he only lost $50,000, really not that bad compared to what he won at blackjack. What was more serious, IMHO, was losing a year of his life doing nothing else productive, and poisoning relationships with others. The fact that he ended up broke for a time you can't put solely at the feet of his poker addiction. It was more that fact that he wasn't earning anything for quite a while, but was still spending money like it was going out of style. Axelrad recognized his own situation very well, and wrote in the book of a sadly amusing occasion on which he paid for an expensive Manhattan hotel room instead of just taking a train back to his home in Brooklyn, just because he felt like spoiling himself on a whim and couldn't tolerate the thought of his own modest apartment.

High stakes play risks turning you into an action junkie.
 
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