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.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.