Poker Articles

 Taylor "Green Plastic" Caby is an instructor for CardRunners.com.

In this article, I am going to write about some events and observations from my summer in Las Vegas.  I'll also share some of my plans on preparing for the main event.  My trip will culminate (hopefully) in me winning the Main Event of the World Series of Poker, which starts on Friday.

I am living in a house in Henderson, Las Vegas with 5 other internet poker players.  These players are all 25 or younger, and for the most part make serious amounts of cash playing poker online.  We have a good mix of NL, Limit, and MTT players, so there is always someone around to talk poker with.  At any one time, there are usually 4-5 other poker players living with us, so the house is always very full. 

The house itself has two stories and 6 bedrooms, and it is a great place to party.  We have had way too much fun, and let's just say I feel we are lucky to have not been evicted by now.  The average day starts by waking up after noon, playing poker outside during the day, and then drinking and partying until 4-5 AM.  It is a brutal lifestyle that I can't keep up much longer.

The poker talent in this house is unbelievable.  I would estimate that of the 8-10 people living in the house right now, the average net worth is somewhere between 200-400k.  This is pretty amazing considering half the kids in the house are under 21 years old.  Most of the 18-19 year olds are crushing cash games, but they have the knowledge to beat the MTT's as well.  I look for some of these players to be winning WSOP and WPT events in 2 or 3 years. 

People should NOT underestimate the quality of the young online poker talent.  I consider myself to be one of the better players on the internet, and I am thoroughly impressed with them.  The only thing that will keep them from making millions is their money management skills and/or table games.

I came out to Las Vegas expecting to make a ton at the live cash games.  Well, it didn't happen.  I won a few thousand dollars the first time I played the $25-$50-$100nl game at Bellagio, but I lost almost $35k the next time I played.  I felt like I wasn't playing my best game, and I surely didn't run into very many favorable situations.  I am usually not one to give up easily when faced with adversity, but my rationale for quitting the live cash games this summer was that I am making a ton of money online and can play more tables plus more hands per hour.  This way I can play 3-4 hours online per day, then enjoy the sun and pool.  Historically I have always done well playing at the big cash games in casinos, so I will look to make a nice comeback next time I play.

As far as getting ready for the main event, I am doing a few things.  I talk tournament strategy with guys in my house as much as I can.  I'm reading a few books on tournaments now just to brush up on my skills (harrington on holdem 1 and 2).  Many people don't know that I was a pretty successful tournament player about 2 years ago.  I played $100+ tournaments and usually performed reasonably well.  The first day of the main event, I plan on playing just as I would in a cash game.  My goal is to get to at least 30k in chips by the end of the day.  During my three off days (I play day 1), I will keep reading and practicing by playing online tournaments.

You can check my progress in the main event on my blog at www.CardRunners.com/TaylorCaby.  Our admin will be posting updates every few hours, and I'll post a write up at the end of each day.  Best of luck to everyone at the WSOP.