‘Billions’ Writer Outguns Hedge Fund Titans at Charity Poker

(Bloomberg) -- At first, it looked like the rivalry between Avenue Capital’s Marc Lasry and “Billions” show runner Brian Koppelman would fuel the evening.

The hedge fund manager who’s made a cameo on the Showtime series and its co-creator started the Take ’Em to School Poker Tournament at the same table.

“I just crushed Brian’s soul,” Lasry said a few hands in Wednesday night at Gotham Hall in Manhattan.

“If he wants to crush my soul, that’s OK,” Koppelman responded.

This wasn’t the first time they’ve played poker together, and after a few more hands, their fortunes diverged. “I presented I had a higher flush," Koppelman said. “Marc folded. I bluffed him out of 7,000.”

“He turned me into a little boy,” Lasry said. “I cried.”

Their banter wasn’t the only reason theirs was the hot table, the one that non-playing guests came to watch and other players hovered around during breaks.

For one thing, lots of people wanted to say hello to John Sabat of Point72’s Cubist Systematic Strategies, who runs the tournament benefiting Education Reform Now with his brother Mike Sabat of Sanford C. Bernstein. The event raised more than $550,000 for the group, which promotes standards and accountability in public education, especially for students of color and those from low-income families.

John Sabat is an extremely detail-oriented quant and he’d taken great care with his table, making sure only high-profile players were seated there and also arranging exactly where they sat.

Lasry, an owner of the Milwaukee Bucks, was next to former Knicks players Charles Smith and John Starks. David Einhorn was also on that end of the table, telling Starks when they sat down, “I’ve seen you play basketball.” Einhorn also tried to get Sabat to keep playing instead of schmoozing. “John! Come back, you have a decision to make,” Einhorn said.

Koppelman was on the other end with Ben Mezrich, who is one month into his first television gig in the writer’s room for season five of “Billions,” and Kevin Pollak, the actor and comedian who plays Taylor’s dad on the show.

Mezrich is an author, including a book on poker. His latest is about Bitcoin billionaires, but he’s best known for writing “The Accidental Billionaires,” the story of Facebook’s creation that Aaron Sorkin adapted into the movie “The Social Network.” (He said it’s no coincidence that Facebook is bringing out its own cryptocurrency after the Winklevoss twins founded a Bitcoin exchange.)

So while he may be the newbie “Billions” writer, he knows his billionaires. He said he still has no idea what’s going to happen next season, but indicated he takes a positive view of the very rich, defending them against charges that their philanthropy only enforces the status quo.

“I’m pro-billionaire,” Mezrich said. “The people at this table could solve global warming. They could sit around playing poker, getting drunk and say, ‘Let’s solve this.’ The world’s problems will be solved by billionaires and scientists.”

When it came to winning the tournament, it was Mezrich who advanced, not the billionaires Lasry and Einhorn. In fact, he made it all the way to the final table and placed third above Point72’s Rob Ambalu, who came in fifth, and Jae Hong of Sessa Capital (sixth). Cubist’s Jeremy Tzeng finished ninth, with Angela Aldrich of Bayberry Capital rounding out the top 10.

That left Ayal Miodovnik, a theatrical producer who also runs behind-the-scenes Broadway tours for high school groups, and Winston Hazel, who’s in tech sales, to battle it out. In the final hand, Ayal took down the pot with pocket aces, beating Hazel’s pair of nines.

At 1 a.m., Mezrich, Miodovnik and Hazel were on the sidewalk outside the venue, debating which prizes to take, all dependent on what the top finisher selected. But they were trying to make sure everyone got what they wanted.

Hazel said he’d like the round of golf at Sebonack. Miodovnik seemed torn between dinner at Rao’s and a trip with Lasry on his plane to see a Bucks game.

“I haven’t been on a private plane before,” said Miodovnik, who ended up choosing the plane ride.

To contact the reporter on this story: Amanda Gordon in New York at agordon01@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Pierre Paulden at ppaulden@bloomberg.net, Steven Crabill, Peter Eichenbaum

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