[Tupacia]

Taylor, it makes a bunch of sense for you to have some sort of hedge in place as both of your sources of income (playing poker and Cardrunners) are dependent on online poker staying legal in the U.S. ( to a large degree). Put options would make more sense than a simple short would (as if poker truly becomes illegal in the U.S. then the gaming stocks will collapse instead of fall a little bit). I would also investigate getting an insurance policy on the proposition (think Lloyd's of London or some other exotic insurance company). Just as every big-name draft pick who stays around in college for another season takes out insurance in the unlikely event of an injury (Matt Leinart did it), you too should look into this possibility. If online poker becomes illegal in the U.S. and you have a sizable insurance policy, you get a large sum of money. If online poker stays legal, you're out the insurance premium but you're still raking in money by playing and through Cardrunners. PM me if you have any more questions.

Najrdorf - I think you're missing the point of his post. His point isn't that he would have made a bunch of money by shorting those stocks, it's that he should have done so to protect his downside as his livelihood is based on poker being legal.