Chicago Poker Tournaments
Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:23:12 +0000
On page 35 there's an "Art of Living Well" article titled, "Animal House," in which Chef Art Smith "journeys to the African bush and discovers an enchanted lodge and delicious dining." In the article Art asks another chef to wrap up some croissants for Oprah, who he was meeting later that day. I wonder if Art and Oprah would like to go on a safari in my backyard and have some hot dogs? I can wrap them in croissants. We've got some crazy squirrels and chipmunks back there, and every once in a while we see a bunny hiding in the bushes. I won't even charge them much.
Page 41 is an ad for the Horseshoe Casino, and they are kind enough to list upcoming poker tournaments and their buy-in prices, which range from a paltry $235 to a much more exclusive $5,200. It's a good thing I don't know how to play poker, or I'd be tempted. I bet Ashley Shelton plays poker. She can use that card for her buy-in.
I move on to the fashion pages and am delighted to find that I, too, can own a Bulgari 18k pink-gold Serpente watch for $40,800, a Tod's alligator leather "D Bag" for $21,000, or a Paoo Endless love ring for $5,200. I am particularly intrigued by the Paoo ring because Demi Moore and Kelly Preston are Paoo fans, and if it's good enough for them, it must be something I should have. I contemplate a Brioni three-in-one jacket for my husband for $2,995; it's three jackets in one! That's only $998 per jacket!
In the beauty pages I find a Sjal Exfoliating Mask made of micro pearls and gemstones, and that seems like an unbelievable bargain at $165. Maybe I'll get two of those.
Don't even get me started on the pages upon pages of photos of people I don't know at fundraisers, dinners, auctions, and fashion events that I wasn't invited to, didn't attend, and do not care about.
Toward the end of the magazine is the "Unzipped" real estate section, and I spend a few minutes contemplating if I'd rather live in ex-Blackhawk Chris Chelios' former 16,000-square-foot home for $6.9 million or a 12,500-square-foot "aesthetically controversial European-style castle" for only $5.75 million. The controversial castle is $460 per square-foot, whereas Chris' old house is only $431 per square-foot, so that's definitely the better bargain. I'd better get a moving truck, if Ashley hasn't already beat me to it.
So, I'm curious about a few things. Do the people who can afford these things actually peruse this magazine in order to get fashion, beauty and real estate ideas? Don't they have personal assistants and consultants for that type of thing? Is the magazine intended to be a dream book, a peak into the lifestyles of the approximately 12 Chicagoans that live those lifestyles? Or perhaps it's a conspiracy put together by Mayor Daley and his crowd to motivate us to work harder so that we, too, can spend on a bauble what some people make in a year? I can't answer those questions, but I do know this: if I ever spend $21,000 on a purse, I give you full authority to show up at my controversial castle and slap me upside the head with a rolled up copy of this magazine.
This is an original Chicago Moms Blog post.
Job Description:
Our Client is a proprietary trading organization. Using internally developed methods, models and technology, we trade across a wide range of asset classes both domestically and internationally. All of our trading activity is for our own account, and all of our methods and systems are developed solely for our use. Unlike hedge funds, brokerage firms and banks, OUR CLIENT has no customers, clients or investors.
Founded in 1992, our mission is to empower a team of exceptional individuals to identify and capture trading opportunities in the global markets by leveraging and integrating technology, risk management and quantitative research. With that spirit, OUR CLIENT has embraced the integration of trading and technology and has devoted extensive time, capital and resources to develop fast, precise and reliable infrastructure and applications. Our technology, along with our commitment and creativity, has greatly enhanced our ability to improve and expand our operations, solve complex problems and capture new opportunities.
OUR CLIENT is headquartered in Chicago and has offices in New York City and London and employs over 450 people worldwide from many different disciplines and backgrounds.
OUR CLIENT is seeking a Business Analyst with expertise in financial modeling to work with Traders, Risk Management, and Quantitative Research on tools for pricing, hedging, and risk management of OTC and exchange-traded derivatives.
Responsibilities
•Act as an expert on financial modeling techniques used by proprietary risk systems
•Gather business requirements from various stakeholders in different levels of the organization
•Communicate business requirements and big picture concepts to technical teams
•Ensure that new feature development meets acceptance criteria for stated business requirements
•Act as liaison between OUR CLIENT business stakeholders and software developers to identify and resolve issues
•Assist Product Management with the prioritization of new feature development
•Assist with training on existing and new risk systems
•Develop user acceptance testing procedures and test cases
Qualifications:
•2+ years experience in derivatives trading or financial risk management is required
•2+ years experience analyzing and translating client needs to create functional requirements
•Advanced skills in Microsoft Excel including pivot table reporting; comfort with VBA desired
•Previous experience writing and executing test cases
•Excellent written and oral communication skills
•Strong attention to detail is essential
•Must have ability to quickly internalize new concepts and terminology
•Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree in quantitative field desirable
Culture and Community
Our client is committed to a culture of collaboration, innovation and entrepreneurship. Our employees are self-motivated, competitive and intellectually curious. The key to our client’s success lies in an interdisciplinary, team approach that enables us to discover opportunities and solve complexities in the financial markets.
We advocate a healthy work-life balance and offer challenging activities and benefits for our team members including:
- Fully stocked game room
- Excellent health, dental and vision insurance
- Poker tournaments
- 401k matching program
- Book club
- Tuition reimbursement
- Charity and volunteer activities
- Health Club membership
- Guest speakers
- Massages
- Geek lunches
- Sports teams
- Daily catered breakfast and lunches
- Sailing opportunities
- Wine and beer tastings
- Yoga classes
Other Great Things about Our Client:
•Over 50% of our new employees are recruited from college campuses every year
•Our client employs over 480 people worldwide from many different disciplines and backgrounds
•Despite our rapid growth over the past year, we have managed to keep a small company feel
•We are committed to improving energy efficiency and reducing our global footprint and have several programs in place to promote environmental awareness
$80-$150 K base plus bonus