Long's story on his gambling doesn't jibe with casino's version: Is someone full of....

Yesterday I did a lengthy post on auctioneer Billy Long and his gambling activities.

I quoted a SN-L story in which Long said it was "nothing more to me than a way to relax."

That SN-L story generated a lot of comments yesterday and several more today which allude to stories I have heard on the street.

A commentator with the name "Mambo" said:

The best uncultivated source of information... a bartender, they see so much & are thought to know so little, because to the patrons they are invisible.
10/4/2010 8:56:07 AM

A commentator with the name "AmusedinMO" said:

I have known Billy for years. I never found him likeable. He used to be tolerable, not so much anymore. I have heard the rumors of his gambling habits before, and it doesnt surprise me. I dont care that he gambles, I care that he wants to lie about it, to get a few edorsements. If you are ashamed of what you do, maybe you shouldnt do it. If it was me, I'd say , "yes, I play poker. So what ?" But since he is denying the fact, it makes me even more suspicious. We dont need anymore liars in DC, and we sure don't need another backwoods, uninformed fast talker representing us in DC.
10/4/2010 9:27:33 AM

On January 13 and on January 15, 2009, Republican congressional candidate, auctioneer Billy Long, a registered World Poker Tour professional, paid $20,000 to play poker in a professional tournament at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi, Mississippi. (The median household income for the Seventh District of Missouri is a little over $30,000 -- do the math.)

Long had this to say about that event in an email to a supporter:

On a fishing trip to Louisiana a year ago January they were holding a nationally televised poker tournament at a hotel in Mississippi which was on my way to my buddies house. I paid $265 to enter a small tournament and won a $1,000 token (no cash value) to play in another tournament where I won a $10,000 token (no cash value) to play in the main event. I played in that the next day and lost -

A call was placed to the Beau Rivage Casino, (228) 386-7111, and they said there are no $10,000 tokens of “no cash value” given to winners of lesser qualifying tournaments for the Southern Poker Championship. The caller spoke with two different people at the casino, and both of them said they don’t award $10,000 tokens to get into the bigger game. Had you won any of the tournaments, you would have known they would have given an entry form noting that you won the tournament guaranteeing your participation, not a $10,000 token.

Then there is this from longiswrong.com

At the April 2010 Fair Tax Rally in Springfield Long claims he never paid $10,000 to get into the game. He claims he received a $10,000 chip from a friend to get into the game. Of course, this explanation is inconsistent with the facts posted on the Southern Poker Championship.

According to the Southern Poker Championship data, Billy Long played in two games each with $10,000 buy ins. So the amount in question is $20,000. The first game was on January 13 and the second game was on January 15. The World Poker Tour Web site shows two games as well.

I like anonymous' comment on this post.

Long on his gambling habit: "It's nothing more to me than a way to relax."

The average monthly Social Security benefit for a retired worker was about $1,164 at the beginning of 2010. This amount changes monthly based upon the total amount of all benefits paid and the total number of people receiving benefits. A retired worker can expect to receive an annual Social Security benefit of $13,968

Auctioneer Billy Long, who wants to privatize Social Security, paid more than an average retired worker's TOTAL ANNUAL SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFIT ($13,968.00) TO BUY INTO ONE (THAT'S RIGHT, 1, AS IN SINGULAR, UNO, ONE) POKER GAME AT A CASINO IN BILOXI MISSISSIPPI!*

In today's SN-L, in a story about auctioneer Billy Long by Corey DeVera, she questioned Long about his gambling habits:

Asked about talk that he gambles, Long wrote in an e-mail: "The truth is less exciting than the rumors. I have played cards and my family and I have been to Las Vegas. I've built a successful small business, raised two beautiful daughters and have been married to the same wonderful woman for over 26 years. It should be obvious that this is not a big part of my life and that it's nothing more to me than a way to relax."

This almost slipped by me, "Long wrote in an e-mail" translated "I ran back to my handlers and they wrote out this answer for me"

I've played cards, I've been to Las Vegas, I also ran a successful small business, I've got a beautiful wife of 30 plus years and a lovely daughter also, but I never would even dream of spending that kind of money to get into a poker game like Mr. Long has. I work too hard for my money to waste it away like he does. Show me those Missouri values again, Billy!

Corey-- you left him off the hook with this answer. He bluffed you out. What did his wife and family have to do with your question about gambling?

All Hat No Cattle asks if Billy is gambling with your future?

Most God fearing southwest Missourians want their congressman to play it safe with their money. Keep taxes low, don’t spend money for bridges to nowhere and live the values we’ve learned as Ozarkers. In other words, don’t spend money you don’t have and for sure don’t bet the milk money on a high stakes poker game. Right?

Well, Billy didn’t get the message. In January 2009, Billy laid down $20,000.00 at the Southern Poker Championships so he could finish in 116th place. Sure, it was his money and he can spend it anyway he wants. If you’re a multi-millionaire, who cares if you drop $20,000.00 at a casino?

On the other hand, if you’re out trying to sell yourself as one of those hard working, God fearing southwest Missourians who want you – the congressman – to play it safe with their money, then it’s a problem.

Underneath Billy’s aw shucks exterior is a guy who likes to gamble. Will he gamble with your money?

Ask Billy if his love of gambling is the kind of family value he’ll take to Washington.

Billy tells us he only plays cards for relaxation and he loves his wife and children.

Oh heck, let's let Billy explain it as he did in this email he sent to a supporter who asked him about his gambling habits. (He seems to have tightened up his answers a little bit since last May. Or maybe his handlers wrote the email to DeVera.)

This email from Billy to a supporter is classic Billy, always the victim: btw--I know who the recipient of this email is.

-----Original Message-----

From: Auctnr1@aol.com

Sent: Fri, May 7, 2010 5:28 pm

Subject: From Billy Long

What I would really like to do is have a cup of coffee with you and (redacted) as soon as possible. I'll be glad to fill you in completely on everything and I'll be 100 percent honest with you as I am with everyone.

I just returned today from a week in Washington, D.C. and it was fabulous. One of the groups I met with is 100 percent anti-gambling and they had agreed to endorse me months ago until another of the candidates started a "Whisper Campaign" against me concerning gambling and then they backed off. When I met with them again this week and leveled with them concerning everything and all of these wildly exaggerated claims their executive director said he thinks he "smells a rat." He's going to run my name up the flag pole again and tell his state people that he again wants to endorse me and if he gets push back from one or two certain people then his suspicions will be confirmed and I will indeed get their endorsement.

I have my own "Anti Billy Blogger" that has been dogging me for months - he shows up everywhere I go and carries a banner trying to turn people against me. My main two competitors have joined forces with him trying to fan the flames on anything "Anti Billy".

One of my two main competitors has taken $4,800 from the Casino just west of Joplin and the other one has taken $2,600 from casinos in St. Louis and K.C. (Bus Driver's note: not true, easily checked)

I have not asked for and will not accept money from any gambling interest.

One of the two main competitors did a phone poll last week and if you said "undecided but leaning towards Long" the callers response was "well if you knew Billy was a Professional Gambler and has made his living the last several years off his winnings would you feel any different about him?" (redacted) I had a supporter's Mom get one of these calls and she made him repeat it three times which he did, she was totally outraged at their behavior and couldn't believe her ears. (bus driver's note: Billy also did phone calls.)

That's how low they've sunk already in this race. If you analyze it they didn't lie - they never said I was a Professional gambler and that's how I've made my living - they just ask "well if you knew..."

10 months ago a staunch anti gambling area resident said he wanted to support me but had heard I hosted "High Stakes Poker Games" in my home on a regular basis. I said "do you want me to lie to you or do you want the truth?" He opted for the truth so I said "well the truth is the last time I hosted any poker game in my house or anywhere else was OVER THIRTY YEARS AGO WHEN I LIVED AT HOME and Dad and I would have some friends over every week or two for a 25 cent - 50 cent poker game.
(bus driver's note: too bad the 'staunch anti-gambling resident didn't ask if Billy played "High Stakes Poker Games"(see player 116)
This blogger has filed two frivolous complaints against me with the Federal Election Commission in D.C. One was throw out without being investigated and the other soon will be but I just got a bill from my Attorney of $1,400 for answering his frivolous charges. However now his frivolous ethics complaints have now become "Billy Long's Ethics PROBLEMS" - so when people hear that they automatically think I have real ethical issues.

I played zero poker for thirty years and about three years ago I started playing occasionally in friendly poker games in two friends homes. Their Wives would fix something to eat and we'd play cards. I was never embarrassed or ashamed of this but when I started running for office I just thought it would be better not to play anymore. (bus driver's note: While Long may have not played poker at his house for 30 years, and only at two friends' house for three years, On line records from Card Player, The Poker Authority show a player named Billy Long participated in games on 12/10/2003 (won $300), 12/20/2003 (won $325) and 07/10/2008 (won $15,600).

On a fishing trip to Louisiana a year ago January they were holding a nationally televised poker tournament at a hotel in Mississippi which was on my way to my buddies house. I paid $265 to enter a small tournament and won a $1,000 token (no cash value) to play in another tournament where I won a $10,000 token (no cash value) to play in the main event. I played in that the next day and lost - collected no money and went on to my buddies place for the deep sea fishing. So my $265 dollars bought me a lot of fun and entertainment butting heads with some Pro Players. However when the story is told "Billy paid $10,000 CASH to support his out of control gambling habit". I told the blogger in person exactly how it works but he swears I'm lying - I could tell him the Sun was coming up in the east tomorrow and he'd swear I was lying. (bus driver's notes: Is this what he is talking about? Event #8 - No Limit Hold'em Championship at the end of day 1, Long was 69 out of 70)

The last poker tournament I played is was a benefit tournament for the "No Kill Animal Shelter" at Springfield's Millwood Country Club about three months ago and I played in it to support the shelter. (bus driver notes: This may be true, if you are only speaking about poker tournaments. Reliable sources have seen Long at the Downstream casino, an establishment that hosts poker games) As Mark Twain one said "my demise has been greatly exaggerated" and for me "my Gambling Habits have been greatly exaggerated".

I've rambled longer than I intended but I'd still like to set down at your convenience and give your more Fact vs Fiction stories that are going around concerning this issue.

When I was in D.C. this week one of the biggest lobbyists up there (who has endorsed Nodler) made sure he emailed the anti-Billy blog information to everyone we were meeting with. However for the most part (like 95 percent of the time) it's actually helped us as people can see through their tactics and are appalled at how low they can go with all this stuff.

Thanks, Billy

Call and we'll do coffee.... there's more. 417.839.0061 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 417.839.0061

*In early January, 2009, Long participated in The World Poker Tour - Southern Poker Championship - Main Event. He was sat at table 28, seat 4 and ended the day with 33,850 chip count.

I found this without looking too hard.

"It's nothing more to me than a way to relax." Don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining.

But wait, there's more!

I Like Ike

Scariest. Halloween. Costume. Ever.

Scariest Halloween Costume Ever.

Follow the Money Part II

Total Raised and Spent
2010 Race: Missouri District 07

Select a cycle:

Billy Long (R)
Raised: $783,188
Spent: $512,861
Cash on Hand: $270,325
Last Report: July 14, 2010
PAC contributions $4,000 (1%)
Individual contributions $771,563 (99%)
Candidate self-financing $0 (0%)
Other $7,625 (1%)

Do you know any of these people? (from the FED website):

Follow the money

From Open Secrets, which tracks political contributions--

Med-Pay Inc $15,600
Pinegar Chevrolet $14,400
Ozarks Coca-Cola Bottling $10,600
Springfield Grocer $9,600
Tamko Building Products $9,600
Trailiner Corp $9,600
Missouri State University $7,300
Christenson Transportation $6,300
Sutherland Lumber Co $6,250
American Dehydrated Foods $5,800
Murney Assoc $5,800
National Auctioneers Assn $5,000
American Certification Board $4,800
Calibrated Products $4,800
Caring People $4,800
Custom Metalcraft $4,800
Goose Creek Publishing $4,800
Lake Country Investments $4,800
McKesson Corp $4,800
Morgan Stanley $4,800
Opfer Enterprises $4,800
Pinegar Land & Cattle $4,800
Positronic Industries $4,800
Springfield Grocer Co $4,800

The organizations themselves did not donate , rather the money came from the organization's PAC, its individual members or employees or owners, and those individuals' immediate families. Organization totals include subsidiaries and affiliates.

May 6 Stock Market Plunge Caused By Hedge Fund Operation In Overland Park

This story is all over the internets this morning*. The "Flash Crash" of May 6 which caused the stock market to plunge 700 points in minutes was caused by the Overland Park based trading firm of Waddell and Reed.
From the Washington Times:

A trading firm's use of a computer sell order triggered the May 6 market plunge, which sent the Dow Jones industrial average plunging nearly 1,000 points in less than a half-hour, federal regulators said Friday.

The firm's trade, worth $4.1 billion, led to a chain of events the ended with market players swiftly pulling their money from stock market, the report said.

The Chicago Business website has this information about the plunge:

Waddell's selling algorithm had "no regard to price or time," the report said. That, coupled with the "aggressive" reaction by high-frequency traders hedging their positions, led to two separate "liquidity crises" -- one in the E-minis, the other among individual stocks.

Waddell's algorithm "responded to the increased volume by increasing the rate at which it was feeding the orders into the market, even though orders that it already had sent to the market were arguably not yet fully absorbed by fundamental buyers or cross-market arbitrageurs," the report said.

These arbitrageurs transferred the selling pressure to the stock market, sparking a "hot-potato" effect among high-frequency traders that rapidly passed the same positions back and forth.

Meanwhile, the report continued, the stock market began plunging as trading pauses kicked in at individual firms, as high-frequency traders became net sellers, and as market makers began routing "most, if not all," retail orders to the public markets -- a flood of unusual selling pressure that sucked up more dwindling liquidity.

Trying to understand how 'hedge funds' work is complicated. What is relatively easy to understand, however, is how fund managers make their big bucks: through performance and management feed:

A hedge fund manager will typically receive both a management fee and a performance fee (also known as an incentive fee) from the fund. A typical manager may charge fees of "2 and 20", which refers to a management fee of 2% of the fund's net asset value each year and a performance fee of 20% of the fund's profit.

As with other investment funds, the management fee is calculated as a percentage of the fund's net asset value. Management fees typically range from 1% to 4% per annum, with 2% being the standard figure. Management fees are usually expressed as an annual percentage, but calculated and paid monthly or quarterly.

The business models of most hedge fund managers provide for the management fee to cover the operating costs of the manager, leaving the performance fee for employee bonuses. However, the management fees for large funds may form a significant part of the manager's profits. Management fees associated with hedge funds have been under much scrutiny, with several large public pension funds, notably CalPERS, calling on managers to reduce fees.

Performance fees (or "incentive fees") are one of the defining characteristics of hedge funds. The manager's performance fee is calculated as a percentage of the fund's profits, usually counting both realized and unrealized profits. By incentivising the manager to generate returns, performance fees are intended to align the interests of manager and investor more closely than flat fees do. In the business models of most managers, the performance fee is largely available for staff bonuses and so can be extremely lucrative for managers who perform well. Several publications publish annual estimates of the earnings of top hedge fund managers. Typically, hedge funds charge 20% of returns as a performance fee. However, the range is wide with highly regarded managers charging higher fees. For example Steven Cohen's SAC Capital Partners charges a 35-50% performance fee, while Jim Simons' Medallion Fund charged a 45% performance fee.

As the hedge fund remuneration structure is highly attractive it has been remarked that hedge funds are best viewed "... not as a unique asset class but as a unique ‘fee structure’.

Missouri's best known fund manager is retired billionaire Rex Sinquefield who personally has given over $10,000,000.00 to an advocacy group called, "Let Voters Decide" which is seeking to recall the earnings tax paid by Kansas City and St. Louis workers and corporations. From The Turner Report:

Let Voters Decide appears to be a somewhat misleading name.

Considering that he has already poured more than $10.6 million into the earnings tax issue, it appears retired billionaire Rex Sinquefield is planning to make the decision on his own.

Sinquefield passed the $10 million mark today when he contributed $3.9 million, which looks to be the largest amount donated in one chunk to any Missouri candidate or cause, according to Missouri Ethics Commission documents. Let Voters Decide, a Sinquefield initiative is pushing for repeal of earnings taxes in St. Louis and Kansas City.

And from Fired Up Missouri:

Yesterday, GOP financier Rex Sinquefield moved another $3,900,000 of his personal fortune into the Let Voters Decide committee, his committee to get Proposition A onto the ballot and passed in November.

Sinquefield's personal investment in the ballot initiative now exceeds $10.7 million.

* 1/19/2010 - $500,000.00
* 2/15/2010 - $500,000.00
* 4/1/2010 - $750,000.00
* 6/3/2010 - $2,534,000.00
* 6/16/2010 - $2,534,000.00
* 9/30/2010 - $3,900,000.00

The only other donations found in the Missouri Ethics Commission searchable database for the committee are $400 from Robert Poli of St. Louis earlier this year, and $5,001 donated yesterday by Travis Brown, a Sinquefield lobbyist.

As summarized by the Post-Dispatch, "If Proposition A wins statewide, voters in St. Louis and Kansas City would be required to hold an election every five years on whether to continue their city earnings tax. If Proposition A passes, the first such election would be in April 2011. Unless voters opted to continue the city earnings tax, it would be phased out over 10 years and could not be reimposed."

*From the New York Times, May 6:

As of about 6 p.m., all the officials knew was that there had been what one called “a huge, anomalous, unexplained surge in selling, it looks like in Chicago, at about 2:45.” The source remained unknown, but it had apparently set off algorithmic trading strategies, which in turn rippled across everything, pushing trading out of whack and feeding on itself — until it started to reverse.

Federal officials fielded rumors that the culprit was a single stock, a single institution or execution system, a $16 billion trade that should have been $16 million. But they did not know the truth.

I have a friend who is more conservative politically than I am liberal. While we are on different sides of the aisle on most issues, we share some common interests.

In one of our conversations he made a comment that he'll let me have the presidency, the Senate and the house, just let him control the money and he will rule over everyone.

He reminded me of Amschel Rothschild's famous quote: "Let me issue and control a Nation's money and I care not who makes its laws."

I think he's right.