Mission
TableBrain's mission is simple: Take poker to the next level.
Through patent-pending new games, advancements on existing games and cutting-edge gaming technology, the company seeks to boost traffic and profits for the poker industry while enhancing the player's experience. We believe that when you play online poker games, you should be having the best poker experience possible!
TableBrain believes in a win-win proposition. Make the game more fun and stimulating for players, resulting in more fun casino experiences, and the industry will reach new heights. The company aims to be at the forefront of an expanding poker market and online poker games for years to come.
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History
After successful careers in New York City's high energy legal and financial worlds, longtime friends E. Mark Gross and Brian "Zvi" Lando decided to pour their intelligence, expertise and creativity into the arena they love most: Poker.
E. Mark is an attorney who specialized in technology; Zvi is a MBA from MIT who managed billion-dollar Wall Street portfolios. Together their vision became TableBrain, which was founded in 2005.
Starting with E. Mark’s top-notch expertise at reading opponents and Zvi’s laser-sharp skills at evaluating numbers and markets, their first idea was to supply intelligence to poker players: What if a player could know his opponents' tendencies? What astute player wouldn't want that information?
The company developed software to gather this intelligence in real time. That information could then be presented to players using easy-to-understand icons. Additional icons also described the table type (loose, tight, etc.); a player's own play; possible hands supported by the board; and much more. This ultimately became TableBrain’s new form of Hold’em, TableWinner Hold’em.
The company obtained patent pending status for TableWinner and began demonstrating its unique functionality to online poker companies. In 2006, the company engaged in discussions on a major licensing deal for TableWinner. However, the agreement was not executed due to industry-level challenges, a changing regulatory environment and the Ports Act which required a total business re-engineering.
Undaunted, the company founders continued developing poker games. Next came Selector Hold'em, a video poker game that allows players to bet on a number of outcomes as the hand plays. Players can bet whether the flop will be black or red or a rainbow, whether a suited 8-9 will beat Aces, and so on.
Taking their creative abilities to the next level, E.Mark and Zvi came up with Double Hold’em, an exciting game that’s revolutionizing poker. Double Hold’em provides more playable hands, more action and more fun! It is currently playing on casino websites worldwide, drawing many converts from traditional Texas Hold’em. Casino player feedback has been very encouraging, as it has elicited significantly better player loyalty and established longer playing time by casino website players.
But TableBrain didn’t stop there. The company extended Double Hold'em's vision from the poker room to video poker. EZ Double is its patent-pending video poker game that has all the attributes of Double Hold'em. EZ Double is targeted to an underserved element of the video poker industry, as the video poker sector is now dominated by five-card draw, a poker version rarely played by casino players. EZ Double fills the gap by providing a video poker game based on the much more popular Texas Hold’em.
Moving forward, TableBrain will continue to build on its reputation for delivering high-impact, profit-generating poker games.
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OUR TEAM:
E. Mark Gross, Chief Executive Officer
Under E. Mark’s leadership, TableBrain has patented revolutionary poker games and successfully introduced three of them for public play. E. Mark strongly believes in raising the level of poker, expanding the poker market, and exploring innovative approaches to the world's greatest game.
Prior to launching TableBrain, E. Mark was a law partner in a practice focused on technology, telecommunications, leasing and retail matters. Before that, he was a senior associate of the national law firm Jenkins & Gilchrist Parker Chapin, LLP. He obtained his law degree in 1987 from the Boston University School of Law and is currently a member of the Bar in New York and New Jersey.
A connoisseur of modern art and classic rock, E. Mark has played semiprofessional poker for more than a decade and has been responsible for significant product design.
Zvi (Brian) Lando, Chief Financial Officer
In 20-plus years in finance, Zvi has led a wide range of profitable ventures. He’s launched a computer consulting company as well as a small hedge fund, and managed multi-billion dollar investment portfolios for JPMorgan Chase. Zvi holds a master’s degree in Finance and Corporate Strategy from the MIT Sloan School, with additional coursework at the Harvard Business School.
When he’s not strategizing for success, this recreational poker player likes to travel the world – he’s visited more than 50 countries to see ancient archaeology and exotic wildlife. He takes home his love of scuba and snorkeling with reefkeeping in his house. A self-confessed sci-fi nerd, Zvi has long been on the cutting edge of strategy gaming – from D&D with the original Gygax manuals, to Magic with the Alpha cards, to Settlers of Catan when it was available only in German.
Larry Hartstein, Editor-in-Chief / Content Manager
After graduating with honors from Columbia University’s School of Journalism, Larry has spent nearly 20 years writing for major publications and websites. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Dallas Morning News and Atlanta Journal-Constitution, as well as on cbssportsline.com, foxsports.com and usatoday.com. Designated a “shark” by the poker site sharkscope.com, Larry is a real poker stalwart and an avid recreational player with a MGM Grand poker tournament title to his credit.
Leon Stankowski, Chief Technology Officer
Leon is a technology leader who specializes in the financial sector, Internet and eCommerce. He is expert in the areas of system architecture, efficient solutions for mission-critical systems and real-time systems running large-scale software systems, server farms and hosting facilities. Educated in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, Leon is fluent in gaming services as well as the online gaming experience.
Judy Shapiro, VP of Marketing
Judy has been part of the TableBrain team since its inception, when she saw an opportunity to apply both her skills and interests in this exciting project. Judy’s love of technology was originally ignited when she began marketing AT&T phones to businesses and consumers. Over the next 15 years, she went on to work at several leading tech companies including Bell Labs, Lucent Technologies, Computer Associates and Comodo winning numerous marketing awards including the APQC for branding excellence and the American Marketing Association for best practices in marketing.
Judy enjoys sharing her insights and unique experience with a wider audience as a regular contributor to AdAge and her blog trenchwars.wordpress.
Avram Jamie Aronoff, Lead Software Developer
A.J. is a senior J2EE and Business Integration architect/developer. His experience encompasses multiple industries (financial, manufacturing, medical) in the roles as J2EE programmer, designer and mentor. His skills range includes J2EE development with WebSphere, C/C++ industrial experience, Java, JCA, JMS, UNIX, WebSphere, databases, GUI, optimization, compilers, code review, scripting. A.J.’s education includes an M.S. in Computer Science (Columbia University), B.S.E.E. in Electrical Engineering (Cooper Union) together with numerous certifications (i.e., Java Certified Programmer from his 25+ year professional experience).
Bruce Bukiet, Mathematics and Probability Consultant
Bruce Bukiet, PhD, is associate dean of the College of Science and Liberal Arts and associate professor in the department of mathematical sciences at New Jersey Institute of Technology. His scientific research has been concerned the mathematical modeling of real-world phenomena and he has made contributions to such diverse fields as the dynamics of detonations, biomedical applications of mathematics, increasing the sanctity of the food supply and understanding baseball.
Bruce earned his Sc.B. from Brown University in Applied Mathematics-Biology and his Masters and Ph.D. degrees in Mathematics from the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University. He was a staff scientist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory working in the applied and theoretical detonation group before coming to NJIT in 1989. Bruce received NJIT's excellence in teaching award for outstanding work in lower level undergraduate teaching in 2006, the Robert W. Van Houten Award for Teaching Excellence in 2007 and The New Jersey Section of the Mathematical Association of America sectional award for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics in 2008.
Bruce's work concerning mathematical modeling of baseball has been featured on CNN Headline News, the Jerusalem Post and Fox Radio's Roger Hedgecock Show, KOGO, San Diego and others. He has applied his method to determine whether it is worthwhile to wager on games during the baseball season. His picks are posted (for academic purposes only) on his website (www.egrandslam.com). These picks have produced positive results overall and for six of the nine years he has posted them.
