High Stakes Poker Pro and Sports Bettor Lands Job with Dallas Mavericks

If you've ever watched "Shark Tank," you'll have noticed that Mark Cuban is an outside the box type thinker.

The NBA Dallas Mavericks owner and billionaire entrepreneur stayed true to form with regard to his penchant for thinking creatively by hiring Haralabos "Bob" Voulgaris as his new director of quantitative research and development.

NBA Stats Guru

Voulgaris is widely regarded as an expert in the realm of NBA analysis. He is said to have made millions of dollars betting on NBA action over the years. ESPN once labeled Voulgaris "the world’s top NBA gambler."

In his new gig with the Mavericks, Voulgaris is expected to use his ken for strategic thinking to "help examine on-court strategy in big-picture ways,” according to a report by ESPN.

Considering that the Mavs played woefully poor the last two seasons with a combined winning percentage of .351, the team can likely use all the help that they can get.

The hiring of Voulgaris comes on the heels of the US Supreme Court decision last May that overturned the ban on sports betting. Individual states can now offer wagering on sports if they so choose.

Voulgaris, a Canada native, has cashed for more than $3 million in poker tournaments throughout his career. His best moment on the felt was in 2017 at the WSOP where a 4th place finish in the $111,111 Big One for One Drop earned him a $1.15 million payday.