“Ira travels to Las Vegas for the World Series of Poker, gets hooked, and tries to figure out what it would mean if he ditched his job in radio to become a professional card player. What he learns: a professional gambler can suffer two heartbreaking losses back-to-back, costing him over $100,000, and moments later, at the casino bar, calculate the million-to-one odds of his unlikely losses…in his head.”
By all means, go to the This American Life website and listen to the program there. (26 minutes) As always, this is brilliant story telling, but it’s a must-listen for anyone that ever thought they’d like to play cards for a living.
Wow, that’s a great listen. TAL is probably my favorite public radio show after What Do You Know? and Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me.