Win-Win with Liv Boeree

In this Win-Win Podcast Episode, Liv and Igor chat to one of the world's most successful sports bettors: Haralabos "Bob" Voulgaris. Revered for his hyper-analytical, data-driven approach to gambling, Bob soon became known as one of the most prolific NBA bettors in the history of the basketball, a reputation that even got him hired by Marc Cuban to run strategy for the Dallas Mavericks!

As well as exploring his various secrets of success (and failures!), we also hear about his most recent undertaking… buying the 3rd division Spanish football team CD Castellon to see if his strategic formula can bring them to the 1st division. Ambitious stuff, and one of the many reasons why Haralabos offers a unique perspective on sports, the often seedy world of gambling, and zero-sum competition itself.

Oh and apologies for Igor's mic! I seemingly forgot to plug it in and thus his sound is bad (so we had to cut a lot of his questions). Sorry Igor. 

Chapters

00:00:00 Intro

00:01:10 Formative Games

00:04:42 Betting on Basketball

00:08:43 Finding Edges

00:18:52 Building Models & Using Data

00:23:46 Floyd Mayweather as a Beard

00:25:27 Ethics in Gambling?

00:30:03 Addiction to Pressure

00:33:44 Dallas Mavericks

00:47:09 Buying CD Castellon

00:57:20 Passion in Sports

01:04:00 Data Diven Approach to Football

01:11:19 AI & Sports

01:18:23 Advice for Younger Self

Links

♾️ Haralabos’s X (Twitter) https://x.com/haralabob?s=20

 ♾️ Ridge Regression https://www.mygreatlearning.com/blog/what-is-ridge-regression/

♾️ CD Castellon Football Club https://www.cdcastellon.com/

♾️ Meditations by Marcus Aurelius https://classics.mit.edu/Antoninus/meditations.html

♾️ The Win-Win Podcast: Poker champion Liv Boeree takes to the interview chair to tease apart the complexities of one of the most fundamental parts of human nature: competition. Liv is joined by top philosophers, gamers, artists, technologists, CEOs, scientists, athletes and more to understand how competition manifests in their world, and how to change seemingly win-lose games into Win-Wins. 

Credits

♾️ Hosted by: Liv Boeree & Igor Kurganov

♾️ Produced & Edited by: Raymond Wei

♾️ Audio Mix by: Keir Schmidt

In this week's Win-Win episode, I chat to legendary thinker and speaker Simon Sinek about the nature of competition in business, and in particular, the key ingredient of all enduring companies and leaders: The Infinite Mindset. We also explore the pros and cons of short-term goals, the power of enemies, Moloch Traps, how to be a better speaker, the need for optimism, and so much more. 

 

Chapters

00:00:00 - Intro

00:01:21 - What is the Infinite Game?

00:06:45 - Misaligned incentives

00:10:23 - Infinite Mindset in business

00:17:23 - Simon’s worthy rival

00:21:30 - Good and evil

00:24:24 - Why we need an enemy

00:27:08 - The Moloch trap

00:31:56 - Existential threats

00:38:01 - The priorities of business

00:44:10 - Ethical fading / People before profit

00:50:14 - Finding the businesses to support

00:51:50 - "Find your Why" test

00:56:18 - Public speaking

01:00:54 - Being an optimist

01:02:45 - Winning the infinite game

Simon's Biography:

Simon is a visionary thinker, who is probably best known for his TED Talk on the concept of WHY, which has been viewed over 60 million times, and his video on millennials in the workplace which has gone on to be seen hundreds of millions of times. He continues to share inspiration through his bestselling books, including global bestseller Start with WHY and New York Times bestsellers Leaders Eat Last and The Infinite Game, as well as his podcast, A Bit of Optimism. In addition, Simon is the founder of The Optimism Company, a leadership learning and development company, and he publishes other inspiring thinkers and doers through his publishing partnership with Penguin Random House called Optimism Press.

Links

♾️ The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek https://simonsinek.com/books/the-infinite-game/

♾️ Finite and Infinite Games by Dr. James Carse https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finite_and_Infinite_Games

♾️ Find Your Why by Simon Sinek https://simonsinek.com/books/find-your-why/

♾️ Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek https://simonsinek.com/books/leaders-eat-last/

♾️ Milton Freidman NYT OpEd https://www.nytimes.com/1970/09/13/archives/a-friedman-doctrine-the-social-responsibility-of-business-is-to.html

♾️ Ethical Fading https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ztNE1CvnV4

♾️ Banking Act of 1933 (Glass-Steagall) https://www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/glass-steagall-act

♾️ Start with Why by Simon Sinek

♾️ Simon's TED Talk: https://simonsinek.com/books/start-with-why/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp0HIF3SfI4

♾️ The Art of Presenting Course https://simonsinek.com/product/the-art-of-presenting-with-simon/

♾️ Simon Sinek podcast w/ Dr James Carse https://simonsinek.com/podcast/episodes/the-infinite-game-with-dr-james-carse/

The Win-Win Podcast

Poker champion Liv Boeree takes to the interview chair to tease apart the complexities of one of the most fundamental parts of human nature: competition. Liv is joined by top philosophers, gamers, artists, technologists, CEOs, scientists, athletes and more to understand how competition manifests in their world, and how to change seemingly win-lose games into Win-Wins. 

 

Credits

♾️  Hosted by: Liv Boeree

♾️  Produced & Edited by: Raymond Wei

♾️  Audio Mix by: Keir Schmidt

Hollywood is currently at a standstill due to the joint writer's & actor's strike, in part because of the growing threat from generative AI.

In this episode, I talk to one of the industry's greatest talents and thinkers -- Joseph Gordon-Levitt -- about how he believes the industry needs to adapt in the age of synthetic media.

We also hear his thoughts on how technology is reinventing our relationship with creativity, human connection, even p*rnography. 

 

Joe's Biography 
Joe Gordon-Levitt is an American actor, writer, and director. He has received various accolades, including nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his leading performances in 500 Days of Summer and 50/50. He is also the Founder of Emmy Award winning collaborative production company HitRECORD.

 

Chapters

00:00:00 - Intro

00:01:46 - AI paying residuals

00:14:35 - The right amount of competition in society

00:23:43 - Intersection of technology and creativity

00:30:27 - DonJon

00:32:53 - Addictive technology

00:44:50 - Competition in acting

00:00:49 - Competitive nature vs nurture

00:54:22 - HITRECORD & paying contributors

01:02:36 - Aliens

01:04:37 - Staying optimistic

 

Links

♾️  Joe’s Washington Post OpEd - “If artificial intelligence uses your work, it should pay you”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/07/26/joseph-gordon-levitt-artificial-intelligence-residuals/

♾️  Jaron Lanier's TED talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ-PUXPVlos

♾️  The Invisible Hand

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invisible_hand

♾️  Center for Human Technology

https://www.humanetech.com/

♾️  Don Jon

♾️  Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thinking,_Fast_and_Slow

♾️  Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/66354.Flow

♾️  HITRECORD

https://hitrecord.org/

♾️  The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson

https://www.amazon.com/Diamond-Age-Illustrated-Primer-Spectra/dp/0553380966

♾️  Culture Series by Ian Banks

https://www.amazon.com/The-Culture-9-book-series/dp/B07WLZZ9WV

 

Credits

♾️ Hosted by: Liv Boeree

♾️ Produced & Edited by: Raymond Wei

♾️ Audio Mix by: Keir Schmidt

What is it like to be an atheist who suddenly meets God? How can poker make us think more clearly about existential risk?

These are just a few of the many fascinating topics this conversation with my good friend Cate Hall covers. Cate is probably best known for her stint as a professional poker player, however she also has worked as a top level corporate lawyer in Washington, and more recently co-founded and ran a biosecurity company that aims to mitigate the threat of biorisks to humanity, like pandemics. Her life hasn’t been all smooth sailing though; for a number of years, Cate experienced a severe mental health and drug addiction issues that nearly took her life.

I’m so grateful to Cate for this honest and frank conversation about her experiences, and for showing us how to adopt a rational, Win-Win mindset even in the face of dire adversity.

 

Chapters

00:00:00 - Intro

00:01:57 - Practising Law

00:05:09 - Parasitic nature of legal system

00:16:24 - From Law to Poker

00:18:19 - Reading Body Language

00:24:41 - Highs and Lows in Poker

00:28:36 - Women in Poker

00:36:21 - Psychotic Break

00:45:58 - Meeting God

00:53:30 - Psychosis or Spirituality?

01:03:03 - Overcoming Addiction

01:08:24 - Current Beliefs

01:13:07 - Biosecurity

01:21:46 - Democratisation of Information

 

Links

♾️  Samsara

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa%E1%B9%83s%C4%81ra

♾️  Pascal Mugging

https://nickbostrom.com/papers/pascal.pdf

♾️ Gnosticism and The Demiurge

https://gnosticismexplained.org/the-gnostic-demiurge/

♾️ USAID Deep Vision Program

https://www.usaid.gov/news-information/press-releases/oct-5-2021-usaid-announces-new-125-million-project-detect-unknown-viruses-pandemic-potential

♾️ Bodhisattva

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhisattva

 

Credits:

Hosted By: Liv Boeree

Produced & Edited by: Raymond Wei

Audio Mix by: Keir Schmidt

In this fifth episode of the Win-Win Podcast, I sit down with my good friend Isabelle Boemeke to discuss how competition manifests in the worlds of modelling and activism.

Isabelle's journey began her small hometown in Brazil, where she was discovered as a model at an early age, and soon found herself moving to Miami aged eighteen to launch a highly successful modelling career. But three years ago, she took a complete U-turn to become the world's first nuclear energy influencer. Adopting the alter-ego "Isodope", she began making viral videos that educate about the pros and cons of nuclear energy as a source of abundant clean energy, and as a tool to combat climate change. Her work has led to her being featured in an Oliver Stone documentary, onto the TED stage, and even changed the nuclear energy policy of California. One of the raddest people I know!

 

Chapters

00:00:00 Intro

00:01:18 Games growing up

00:06:34 Modelling

00:15:54 Competition among women

00:21:33 Body Image Pressures

00:31:25 Beauty Filters and Social Media

00:37:42 Religion and Evolution

00:48:47 Nuclear Energy and the Creation of Isodope

01:01:17 Saving Diablo Canyon

01:05:31 Activism

01:21:20 Motherhood

 

Links

♾️ Isodope https://isodope.com/

♾️ https://www.tiktok.com/@isodope

♾️ https://www.instagram.com/i_sodope/?hl=en

♾️ Isabelle's TED Talk https://www.ted.com/talks/isabelle_boemeke_nuclear_power_is_our_best_hope_to_ditch_fossil_fuels?language=en

♾️ Richard Dawkins - Greatest Show On Earth https://www.amazon.com/Greatest-Show-Earth-Evidence-Evolution/dp/1416594795

♾️ Our Inner Ape https://www.amazon.com/Our-Inner-Ape-Primatologist-Explains/dp/1594481962

♾️ Carolyn Porko (planetary scientist) https://twitter.com/carolynporco

 

CREDITS:

Hosted by: Liv Boeree

Produced & Edited by: Raymond Wei

Audio Mix by: Keir Schmidt 

If you ever downloaded online videos since the year 2000, this man is who you should thank! This week I’m speaking with technologist and philosopher Jordan Hall (formerly Jordan Greenhall). Jordan was a founder of numerous early-internet companies including video codec company DivX. However, I got to know him through his contributions to a community known as “Game B”, which seeks to understand how human civilization can transform itself into a more sustainable, anti-rivalrous, win-win dynamic.

Today’s conversation is a philosophical and technical dive into the anthropological drivers of competition, complexity, centra and decentralization, and the role of AI in shaping a more Game B future. 

 

JORDAN’S BIOGRAPHY:

Jordan is now in his seventeenth year of building disruptive technology companies.

First as an early employee crafting strategy and product for MP3.com, then at InterVU (acquired by Akamai) and then finally in 2000 launching and leading the online digital video revolution as founder and CEO of DivX.

After somewhat successfully navigating two financial crises and an IPO (and going down in flames at Stage6), he left the helm at DivX to return his attention to the big picture. He tried his hand at capitalism – combining Angel investment at the sharp edge of the Schumpeter wave — with participation in a number of think tanks and institutes; most notably, the Aspen Institute and the Santa Fe Institute where he served on the Board of Trustees for five sweet years.

This exposure led him to the conclusion that humanity is in the midst of a world historical transition which will likely kill all of us (see Mad Max) but just might end in a truly amazing future (see Star Trek). Getting there is going to require many things of us – most notably a significant upgrade of our individual and collective capacity for thought and action.

 

CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction

01:26 Childhood Games & Competition

07:14 Evolutionary Reason for Positive Externalities when Competing

11:45 What is Game B

26:42 Cybernetic control structures and the Culture Wars

32:10 Capitalism and Communism as two sides of the same coin

35:03 Why Game A is self-terminating

53:10 How to move toward a Game B society

58:50 How individuals can move towards Game B

01:03:18 The Hyperconversation and Collective Insight

01:06:10 Creating the next Collective Intelligence

01:10:10 How to protect against bad actors

01:18:35 How to cultivate more of a Game B lifestyle

01:30:35 Mental resilience against doom and negativity

01:38:20 AI as a tool against Moloch

01:42:27 What’s next?

 

RELEVANT LINKS:

♾️  The Game B Wiki

♾️  Jordan Hall’s Blog

♾️  The Secrets of Our Success - Joseph Heinrich

♾️  Understanding the Blue Church

♾️  Collective Insight Practices - Bonnitta Roy

♾️  The Medium is the Message - Marshall Mcluhan

 

CREDITS:

♾️  Hosted by: Liv Boeree

♾️  Produced & Edited by: Raymond Wei

♾️  Audio Mix by: Keir Schmidt

Nuclear war is arguably the ultimate lose-lose game. But how plausible is it in this day and age, and what have we learned from living the last ~70 years under the nuclear shadow? Is there a way to permanently escape it?

This is the topic of today’s conversation with Carl Robichaud, one of the world’s leading experts on nuclear security. We dig into everything from the current Russia/Ukraine conflict, the game theory of escalation and deterrence, to successful coordination mechanisms and de-escalation strategies that seem to have kept nuclear war at bay. We also explore how lessons from nuclear policy could apply to risks from novel technologies like AI and synthetic bioweapons. 

In other words: how do we escape the nuclear Moloch Trap? 

 

CARL'S BIOGRAPHY:

Carl has worked for twenty five years as a researcher and advisor on international arms control, security policy, and nonproliferation at organisations including the Carnegie Corporation of New York, The Century Foundation and the Global Security Institute.  He currently leads Longview Philanthropy’s programme on nuclear weapons and existential risk. 

If you are interested in learning more, or directly supporting the Nuclear Weapons Policy Fund which provides targeted support to top projects in the field, you can find further info here:

♾️  https://www.longview.org/nuclear/

 

CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction

02:20 Russia/Ukraine conflict, China & current risk landscape

09:14 Cuban Missile Crisis

14:30 List of other close calls

16:55 How might AI-generated fake media affect nuclear security?

22:08 The Game Theory of Nuclear War

25:50 Difference between fission and fusion bombs

29:40 Nash Equilibria and Mutually Assured Destruction

33:06 Stability-Instability Paradox

34:19 What’s the bull argument for nuclear weapons?

37:45 New technologies/weapons that could break MAD

44:40 How to factor-in human irrationality?

51:11 Moloch and the Security Dilemma

53:35 Arms control, treaties and breaking out of the Moloch trap

56:30 Treaties, Nuclear Test Bans, non-proliferation agreements

01:02:08 IAEA, verification and enforcement

01:09:23 What kind of people were successful at forming treaties?

01:11:05 New coordination mechanisms?

01:14:14 Trustless verification, Zero Knowledge Protocol

01:21:58 Lessons from nuclear that apply to AI and bioweapons

01:27:00 AI Pause Letter

01:30:01 The need for a third Attractor

01:34:50 What can ordinary citizens do about nuclear risk?

01:41:40 Philanthropic opportunities

 

POST-RECORDING CORRECTIONS: The 2023 IAEA regular budget is $396 million, not $300 million as Carl stated. For the police department budget comparison, global IAEA safeguards now roughly equal the annual budget of the Cincinnati police department, not Washington DC's police budget, because DC’s budget has grown so much in comparison.

Carl said the most common US warhead type was 300 kilotons. This is roughly 20 times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb and about 150 times smaller than the Tsar Bomba. US subs carry both 90-kiloton W76-1 or 455-kiloton W88 missiles. Trump admin deployed a new "low yield" W76-2 which is 5-7 kt, or one third to half a Hiroshima yield; these weapons may be seen as "more usable". The largest US bomb in the arsenal is the B-63 gravity bomb at 1.2 MT (or 1200 kt).

 

RELEVANT LINKS

Wikipedia - Nuclear Close Calls

Command and Control by Eric Schlosser

War Games (movie)

Middlebury Institute for International Studies

Center for Strategic and International Studies

Federation of American Scientists

International Atomic Energy Agency

Zero-Knowledge Protocol

The US National Academy of Sciences

Nuclear Threat Initiative

Ploughshares Fund

Council on Strategic Risks

 

CREDITS:

Hosted by: Liv Boeree

Produced & Edited by: Raymond Wei

Audio Mix by: Keir Schmidt

Welcome to the second episode of the Win-Win podcast! In this episode, I sit down with the incredible Bill Perkins to discuss the ups and downs of trading and Wall Street, crazy prop betting, power dynamics, poker, and how to optimize your life and money for maximum fun and fulfillment.

Here’s a bit more about Bill…

Bill Perkins is Founder and Head Trader for Skylar Capital. He has more than two decades of experience in the energy trading industry. Bill is also the founder and president of Small Ventures USA, LP, a private equity and venture capital firm based in Houston, Texas, and founded in 1997. He is also the President and Founder of SkyFi, a democratizing satellite technology, data and access company removing barriers to capturing satellite images. He released his first book in 2020 titled “Die with Zero” which gives strategic advice on how to live your best life no matter your income.

 

CHAPTERS:

00:00 Introduction

01:36 Formative Games

06:23 Societal Programming

13:26 Power Dynamics between Men and Women

20:45 Texas Culture vs New York Competitive Culture

32:37 Market Trading

45:31 Market Manipulation and Meme Stocks

51:30 Bank Bailouts 59.33 Poker

01:10:41 Balancing Life and Competitiveness

01:16:49 Victim Stories & Accountability

01:29:56 Prop Bets & Mental Blocks

01:41:35 Die With Zero

01:54:29 Living Win-Win

 

RELEVANT LINKS:

• Die with Zero by Bill Perkins 
• Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin
• Choice Emotional Intelligence Class

 

CREDITS:

Hosted by: Liv Boeree

Produced & Edited by: Raymond Wei

Audio Mix by: Keir Schmidt