The secret of the Gamboni is the secret of how to survive in the financial markets.
Understand it … really understand it … and you are on your way to success as a trader,
speculator, or investor. So, here it is.
Joe was a card player, a good one. He was so good, in fact, that he had to move from
city to city and find games where he wasn’t known in order to play for high stakes.
One afternoon, in a bar in the suburbs of Chicago, he’s shooting the breeze with the
bartender and asks, “Say, where can I find a good card game around here?”
“What kind of stakes are you talking about?”
“Big,” Joe says, “the biggest game you know about.”
“Well now, I hear there’s a game out in the farm country. It’s a bit of a drive, but these
particular farmers play for big money. Let me make a call and see if it’s OK.”
So the bartender makes the call, and then gives Joe directions to the game.
That evening, after a long drive, Joe pulls up to this barn in the middle of nowhere.
Tentatively, he walks inside, tiptoeing around the fetid piles on the oor. At the back
of the barn, he spots a partially open door, with light and smoke pouring through the
opening. The familiar rush of anticipation and energy sweeps through him as he enters
the room and introduces himself.
Farmers in overalls sit around the table, chewing cigars and puffing their pipes. In a
quick glance, Joe estimates the current pot to be about $40,000 - perfect. So he sits
down. “Ante up,” says the farmer holding the deck of cards. And Joe begins to play.
About an hour later, Joe is holding is own. He is about even when he draws three aces
and two queens - a full house. With a large pot already on the table, he raises $15,000.
The next two guys fold, but the leather-faced farmer across the table calls him and
raises another $15,000, without so much as batting an eye. Joe, certain that the guy
us bluffing, calls the bet and lays down his aces-high full house. The farmer lays down
junk: three clubs and two diamonds of mixed numbered cards. Joe, suppressing a
smile, starts to rake in the pot.
“Wait just a darn minute,” says the farmer, a stern and reprimanding tone in his voice.
2Whattaya mean, wait a minute,” says Joe, “you got nothin.”
“Take a look at the sign over your right shoulder,” smiles the farmer
Joe looks:
THREE CLUBS AND TWO DIAMONDS CONSTITUTE A GAMBONI, THE TOP WINNING
HAND IN THIS ESTABLISHMENT.
Joe is really angry, but after all, rules are rules, so he continues to play with what is
left of his holdings. About an hour later, he draws three clubs and two diamonds … a
Gamboni! He bets everything, and on the final round of betting with the same leather-
faced farmer, he has to throw in his solid gold Rolex to make the call. The farmer turns
over his cards, a queen-high spade ush. Joe turns over his Gamboni and starts to rake
in the pot.
“Hold it there, fella,” says the farmer, his grin cutting deep lines in his cheeks.
“But I got a Gamboni!” cries an exasperated Joe.
“Sure ‘enough, but look at the sign over there,” and he points over Joe’s left shoulder.
Joe looks:
ONLY ONE GAMBONI WILL BE PERMITTED PER NIGHT IN THIS ESTABLISHMENT.
Joe, broke but thankful for the invention of credit cards, leaves the barn with dung on
his shoes, and the leather-faced farmer drives his tractor home feeling the weight of a
solid gold Rolex on his wrist.
So the secret of the Gamboni is this: if you want to win, you’ve got to know the rules;
and also, you can’t win if you’re not at the table.”
