An engaging look at how the culture of poker and modern finance on Wall Street are inextricably linked

Since the 1800s, the world of poker and world of commerce and finance have lived in each other’ s long historical shadow. Truth is, even today it’ s hard to pull the two apart. The Poker Face of Wall Street captures the color of both of these worlds and highlights the real lessons that risk-takers on Wall Street and the high rollers in Vegas can learn from one another. Financial professional and lifelong poker player Aaron Brown knows how fine the line is between risk-taking skill and ruin. Now, in The Poker Face of Wall Street, Brown enlightens and bedazzles serious risk-takers about the odds and skills underlying their mercurial crafts, and shows where the cultures of poker and Wall Street meet. Whether you’ re walking the walk on Wall Street, or talking the talk on the Vegas Strip, this entertaining book reveals why the modern game of poker and modern finance have more similarities than differences, and discusses what this means for those on both sides of the aisle. The Poker Face of Wall Street recounts how Wall Street has always been where modern finance and poker– and the theory behind these " games" – clash head on. It explores how in both worlds, real risk means real money is made or lost in a heartbeat, and why neither camp is always rational with the risk it takes. The Poker Face of Wall Street is a one-of-a-kind book that will show readers the real meaning of risk and reward. Financial professionals who want to use poker insights to improve their job performance will find this entertaining book a must read, as will poker players searchingfor an edge by applying the insights of risk-takers on Wall Street.

Aaron Brown, MBA (New York, NY), is a columnist for Wilmott, the leading journal serving the quantitative finance community, and Executive Director at Morgan Stanley. A well-known Wall Street quant, Brown is also a lifelong serious poker player who stays in regular touch with the top academic poker researchers. On Wall Street, he has been involved in trading and portfolio management with such firms as Prudential Insurance, JP Morgan, Rabobank, and Citigroup. He holds degrees in applied mathematics from Harvard (where he played against the future richest man in the world and a future President of the United States) and finance from the University of Chicago (where he played against two future and one current Nobel Prize winners). Since graduation, he has played against Wall Street tycoons and World Champion professionals.

"If you're looking for tips on becoming a better poker player, you've probably come to the wrong place. Brown does cover the game's basics and shares plenty of stories from his early card-playing days, which include Harvard games with the likes of Scott Turow. But he has much bigger stakes to discuss in this upbeat and entertaining guide. Drawing on his background at Morgan Stanley (where he's an executive director) and other financial institutions, Brown proposes that 'finance can only be understood as a gambling game' and vice versa — and though the material can be rough going for those without some investment training, he's very convincing once all the cards are laid out. In an extended historical example, Brown shows how the economy of colonial America was jump-started by the introduction of faro dealers into French Louisiana. He sees the current financial market as filled with similar wealth-generating potential and believes 'taking risks just makes sense' in such an opportunity-rich climate. Poker, then, becomes a tool for learning how to evaluate and embrace financial risk. Brown's model is instantly graspable, but so contrary to the conventional wisdom on both economics and gambling that it may well spark debate." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Wall Street is where poker and modern financeand the theory behind these gamesclash head on. In both worlds, real risk means real money is made or lost in a heart beat, and neither camp is always rational with the risk it takes. As a result, business and financial professionals who want to use poker insights to improve their job performance will find this entertaining book a must read. So will poker players searching for an edge in applying the insights of risk-takers on Wall Street.

Praise for "The Poker Face of Wall Street"

"Playing high-level poker, trading options, marketing bonds, and being a professor of finance— Aaron Brown has done them all. He shares with us the insights each of these has given him about the others and the lessons he's learned about life. From John Law to Fischer Black, I enjoyed the characters and the anecdotes."

— Edward O. Thorp, author of "Beat the Dealer: A Winning Strategy for the Game of Twenty-One" and "Beat the Market: A Scientific Stock Market System"

"How to be a poker pro and much more . . . a delightful journey through risk concepts with a Wall Street derivatives trader. Brown uses poker concepts as a wonderful metaphor for investment and living life. His enthusiasm for grasping the brass ring of adventure while explaining the role of 'incalculable risk' draws one into the experience of the book. A great read and a good manual for understanding risk."

— Dr. William T. Ziemba, Alumni Professor of Financial Modeling and Stochastic Optimization Emeritus), Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, Vancouver

"Make no mistake, this is a book about economic development as much as poker, and it tells how to win at both gambling games. Experienced poker players and economists will both look at the world with new eyes after hearing what Aaron Brown has to say."

— Perry Mehrling, Professor of Economics at Barnard College of Columbia University author of "Fischer Black and the Revolutionary Idea of Finance"

"The Poker Face of Wall Street is packed with useful information about gambling, the life on Wall Street, poker culture, and some of the most interesting peopleinvolved in gambling. The book is a great mix of entertaining and nontraditional thinking."

— Espen Gaarder Haug, Trader, JPMorgan author of "The Complete Guide to Option Pricing Formulas"

Since the 1800s, the world of poker and world of commerce and finance have lived in each other's long historical shadow. Truth is, even today it's hard to pull the two apart. The Poker Face of Wall Street captures the color of both of these worlds and highlights the real lessons that risk-takers on Wall Street and the high rollers in Vegas can learn from one another. Financial professional and lifelong poker player Aaron Brown knows how fine the line is between risk-taking skill and ruin. Now, in The Poker Face of Wall Street, Brown enlightens and bedazzles serious risk-takers about the odds and skills underlying their mercurial crafts, and shows where the cultures of poker and Wall Street meet. Whether you're walking the walk on Wall Street, or talking the talk on the Vegas Strip, this entertaining book reveals why the modern game of poker and modern finance have more similarities than differences, and discusses what this means for those on both sides of the aisle. The Poker Face of Wall Street recounts how Wall Street has always been where modern finance and poker--and the theory behind these "games"--clash head on. It explores how in both worlds, real risk means real money is made or lost in a heartbeat, and why neither camp is always rational with the risk it takes. The Poker Face of Wall Street is a one-of-a-kind book that will show readers the real meaning of risk and reward. Financial professionals who want to use poker insights to improve their job performance will find this entertaining book a must read, as will poker players searching for an edge by applying the insights of risk-takers on Wall Street.