Bet on it: Zvi Mowshowitz on professional gambling, trading, and AI futures

In this episode, Patrick McKenzie (patio11) is joined by Zvi Mowshowitz (TheZvi) to discuss his wide-ranging career as a professional Magic: The Gathering player, sports gambler, equities trader, public intellectual on the covid-19 epidemic, and AI-focused journalist. They go into depth on how trading happens in less formal markets with lessons that resonate in more formal markets. They also explore the fallacies of rational decision-making in large organizations, the significance of obsession and practice in achieving excellence, and exchange predictions on AI.–Full transcript available here: https://www.complexsystemspodcast.com/betting-trading-zvi-mowshowitz/–Sponsor: This podcast is sponsored by Check, the leading payroll infrastructure provider and pioneer of embedded payroll. Check makes it easy for any SaaS platform to build a payroll business, and already powers 60+ popular platforms. Head to checkhq.com/complex and tell them patio11 sent you.–Links:https://thezvi.wordpress.com/https://www.bitsaboutmoney.com/–Twitter:@patio11@TheZvi–Timestamps:(00:00) Intro(00:16) Meet Zvi Mowshowitz(04:11) Trading and Magic: The Gathering(07:24) Professional sports gambling(11:58) Navigating the sportsbook market(22:33) Sponsor: Check(23:48) Financial markets vs. sports betting(34:02) Covid-19 early predictions (43:21) Covid-19 policy failures and blame(49:52) Vaccine rollout chaos (01:01:11) The importance of scaling effective strategies(01:14:46) AI predictions(01:23:58) Wrap–Complex Systems is part of the Turpentine podcast network. Learn more: Turpentine.co