Computers have outplayed humans in chess and Go for decades. But poker was long considered unhackable. The game requires not just crunching numbers, but creativity and complex strategy. That only started to change about 10 years ago, when a new generation of unbeatable poker bots began to appear online. 

The makers of the technology remained in the shadows, so Bloomberg’s Kit Chellel set out to find them. On today’s Big Take podcast, he joins David Gura to share the story of how a group of Russian students invented the world’s best online poker bots and what that means for the multi-billion-dollar industry.

Read more: The Russian Bot Army That Conquered Online Poker

Computers have outplayed humans in chess and Go for decades. But poker was long considered unhackable. The game requires not just crunching numbers, but creativity and complex strategy. That only started to change about 10 years ago, when a new generation of unbeatable poker bots began to appear online.  The makers of the technology remained in the shadows, so Bloomberg’s Kit Chellel set out to find them. On today’s Big Take podcast, he joins David Gura to share the story of how a group of Russian students invented the world’s best online poker bots and what that means for the multi-billion-dollar industry.
Read more: <a href="The%20Russian%20Bot%20Army%20That%20Conquered%20Online%20Poker">The Russian Bot Army That Conquered Online Poker</a>

The Big Take from Bloomberg News brings you inside what’s shaping the world's economies with the smartest and most informed business reporters around the world. The context you need on the stories that can move markets. Every afternoon.

The Big Take from Bloomberg News brings you inside what’s shaping the world's economies with the smartest and most informed business reporters around the world. The context you need on the stories that can move markets. Every afternoon.

Big Take

The Genius Minds Behind the World’s Best Poker Bots

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/fb6b7192-2bdd-405a-99bc-b1f10116df2d/transcript

For America’s 250th anniversary and our Weekend Listen, the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jill Lepore joins Mishal Husain to take her through her book on the US Constitution.

We The People explores how the Constitution came about and, crucially, how there was an expectation that it would likely change over time. 

This is not, however, an episode entirely set in the past, because Jill Lepore is acutely alive to the pressures of the moment and of the contested sense of what America is or should be.

Contact The Mishal Husain Show mishalshow@bloomberg.net

Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

For America&rsquo;s 250th anniversary and our Weekend Listen, the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jill Lepore joins Mishal Husain to take her through her book on the US Constitution. We The People explores how the Constitution came about and, crucially, how there was an expectation that it would likely change over time.&nbsp; This is not, however, an episode entirely set in the past, because Jill Lepore is acutely alive to the pressures of the moment and of the contested sense of what America is or should be. Contact The Mishal Husain Show mishalshow@bloomberg.net
Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Weekend Listen: America in Free Fall? Historian Jill Lepore on the US at 250 

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/48c4dbbf-021b-4271-8e83-b47b01599ed7/transcript

The federal programming leading up to the United States’ 250th anniversary this weekend has ranged from the genteel (essay contests for grade-schoolers and a national push for volunteerism) to the MAGA-coded (a “Freedom Truck” convoy and a UFC cage fight on the White House lawn). The events are the product of rival planning committees – one created last year by the Trump administration, another by Congress a decade ago.

On today’s Big Take podcast, host Sarah Holder talks to Bloomberg Businessweek Senior Editor Laura Bliss about the funding battles and cronyism allegations that have dogged this year’s events – and how they echo earlier chapters of American history.

Read more: 
The Money and Influence Behind America’s Very MAGA 250th Birthday Party
Why the Great American State Fair Looks So Empty 

We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer.

Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by Rachael Lewis-Krisky; Reported by Laura Bliss; Edited by Jeffrey Grocott and Tracey Samuelson.

Fact-checking by David Fox; Engineering by Alex Sugiura.

Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.

The federal programming leading up to the United States&rsquo; 250th anniversary this weekend has ranged from the genteel (essay contests for grade-schoolers and a national push for volunteerism) to the MAGA-coded (a &ldquo;Freedom Truck&rdquo; convoy and a UFC cage fight on the White House lawn). The events are the product of rival planning committees &ndash; one created last year by the Trump administration, another by Congress a decade ago.
On today&rsquo;s Big Take podcast, host Sarah Holder talks to Bloomberg Businessweek Senior Editor Laura Bliss about the funding battles and cronyism allegations that have dogged this year&rsquo;s events &ndash; and how they echo earlier chapters of American history.
Read more:&nbsp;
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2026-06-24/how-trump-s-freedom-250-beat-out-america250-to-throw-us-a-birthday-party">The Money and Influence Behind America&rsquo;s Very MAGA 250th Birthday Party</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-02/why-trump-s-great-american-state-fair-in-washington-looks-so-empty?srnd=undefined">Why the Great American State Fair Looks So Empty</a>&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/subscriptions/podcasts">Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer.</a>
Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by Rachael Lewis-Krisky; Reported by Laura Bliss; Edited by Jeffrey Grocott and Tracey Samuelson.
Fact-checking by David Fox; Engineering by Alex Sugiura.
Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.

On USA’s 250th, Even the Party Planners Are Divided

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/234eda4b-1118-4c49-91a0-b47c00cd2adf/transcript

In just a few years, peptides have grown from fringe drugs popular with fitness buffs and ‘looksmaxxers’ to a billion-dollar black market. Now, with the prospect of regulation on the horizon, healthcare players and investors are racing to cash in.

On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg reporters Amanda Mull and Madison Muller join host Sarah Holder to break down the peptide boom, the safety concerns surrounding it and how a friendly Trump administration could bring it into the mainstream.

Read more: Peptides Fuel a Multibillion-Dollar Startup Race

Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by Laura Newcombe, Victor Swezey; Reported by Amanda Mull, Madison Muller; Edited by Julia Weaver, Aaron Edwards.

Fact-checking by Julia Press; Engineering by Alex Sugiura.

Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.

In just a few years, peptides have grown from fringe drugs popular with fitness buffs and &lsquo;looksmaxxers&rsquo; to a billion-dollar black market. Now, with the prospect of regulation on the horizon, healthcare players and investors are racing to cash in.
On today&rsquo;s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg reporters Amanda Mull and Madison Muller join host Sarah Holder to break down the peptide boom, the safety concerns surrounding it and how a friendly Trump administration could bring it into the mainstream.
Read more:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2026-peptide-legalization-gold-rush/">Peptides Fuel a Multibillion-Dollar Startup Race</a>
Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by Laura Newcombe, Victor Swezey; Reported by Amanda Mull, Madison Muller; Edited by Julia Weaver, Aaron Edwards.
Fact-checking by Julia Press; Engineering by Alex Sugiura.
Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.

The Underground Peptide Market Is Getting Ready to Go Mainstream

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/567a2cd1-0c1e-48fc-b1ad-b47b0163fb10/transcript

The Genius Minds Behind the World’s Best Poker Bots

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