Over a hundred years ago Thomas Edison established his labs on the site of a failed real estate development called Menlo Park. Meanwhile, 3,000 miles away, the California community of Menlo Park was incorporated in 1874. To most of the world, this remains a quiet suburban town in Northern California, but to the online poker community Menlo is known as a hotbed of poker talent. Menlo Park, CA is home to players like wuddacooler, Guzzinator, and the Wizard himself, mr. menlo.

Edison was known for his furious pace of invention, mostly through elaborate trial and error. The poker wiz, mr. menlo lives a more laid back West Coast lifestyle. Isaac “mr. menlo” Baron is currently ranked 7th in the world by Pocketfives. His PLB total is 9th overall, and the respect he has earned from his peers clearly shows in his Pro Poll ranking. The most amazing thing about mr. menlo’s results is he has amassed a top-ten PLB score playing a fraction of the volume most of the other ranked players put in. He consistently goes deep in big events and simply puts up enormous scores, keeping him competitive in a ranking system that sometimes values quantity over quality.

Isaac Baron belongs to the online poker prodigy demographic that has become less of a novelty and more of a trend in poker today. He just turned 20 this summer and has yet to play a live poker tournament on U.S. soil. He does already have 100k in live tournament cashes playing in 18+ events and is looking to add more soon. He finished 18th for $62k last year at the North American Poker Championships and will be looking to improve on that in a couple weeks when he returns to Niagara.

I recently had the chance to talk to mr. menlo about life and poker.

Lenny: Have you lived in Menlo Park your whole life?

mr. menlo: Pretty much. I did live in Boston for about a year and a half when I was 11.

Lenny: What is Menlo like?

mr. menlo: It’s just a nice, cool suburban town in Northern California.

Lenny: Who are some of the other talented players from your hometown?

mr. menlo: wuddacooler and westmenlo92 are very good. Richie Menlo is also pretty good and so is livejuan, when he’s not tilted.

Lenny: That’s quite the crew. Did you guys know each other before online poker?

mr. menlo: I knew Richie Menlo, westmenlo92 and livejuan before poker. Wuddacooler is a friend of livejuan’s and I frist met him when he started coming to our home games.

Lenny: Were those home games NLHE or more blind man’s bluff and draw poker with deuces wild?

mr. menlo: For a bit we played those dumb games, but my friends and I really didn’t like them that much. We didn’t really get into it until we started playing NLHE and then we started to get serious.

Lenny: How did you get your start online? Did you start playing real money right away?

mr. menlo: Yes. I started out in small Sngos and MTTs, not very seriously at first but I played decently and got lucky enough to win.

Lenny: Did you ever go broke?

mr. menlo: No, I started out lucky and then just got better and better. Pretty early on I won a $20 MTT for 4k, which boosted my bankroll by a lot.

Lenny: Have you ever sat in a game way over your head bankroll-wise?

mr. menlo: Not really. I’ve definitely taken shots, but I have never sat in a game that would kill me if I lost.

Lenny: When did you first think you might be able to make a living playing cards?

mr. menlo: That’s a good question. I don’t think it was a single moment where I made a decision to go pro or anything. I just played while I was in school and I kept winning and winning a lot. The more money I made, the more it occurred to me that I could do this for a living. It sort of just happened.

Lenny: When did you parents first discover you were playing high-stakes poker online?

mr. menlo: (laughs) When I asked my dad for help investing the first six-figure check I withdrew.

Lenny: Wow, what was his reaction? Was he shocked, or did he try to play it cool?

mr. menlo: He was surprised. He knew I was playing and he knew I was doing well, just not quite how well. He was really happy because he liked the fact that I wanted to invest my money and that I had actually cashed out. I think he kind of thought it was play money until he actually saw the check.

Lenny: What about Mom? Did she freak out at all?

mr. menlo: My mom is one of a kind. She is just really supportive of me in whatever I do and believes in me a lot. Also, she is probably the least materialistic person in the world, so the money doesn’t really matter to her. She’s just happy I’m happy.

Lenny: Have you bought anything special for yourself or your family?

mr. menlo: I bought my little sister a car for Christmas and I bought myself a Maserati. I’m also in the process of buying a house. I’m making an offer on Monday.

Lenny: Did you get approved for a mortgage? What was that like considering your age and profession?

mr. menlo: The loan will be in my Dad’s name, but the title will be in mine. I’ve got plenty of money to put down and I’m not worried about making payments, but I’ve got no credit so there was no chance of me being approved.

Lenny: I suppose we should talk a little poker before I let you go. I understand you play a much lower volume than most of the ranked players. What does your average week look like?

mr. menlo: It really depends. If I am traveling like I have been lately, I pretty much only play on Sundays, and maybe a short cash game or two during the week. If I’m at home I probably play about 3-5 hours at a time 3-4 days a week, but most of that’s cash games.

Lenny: Wow, that’s even less than I thought. You are currently #2 on the Monthly PLB with your two huge scores last week. Any thoughts of making a run at that title this month?

mr. menlo: Probably not. I don’t like putting in a lot of volume. One of the things I like about being a poker pro is doing what I want when I want. If I’m playing tournaments all the time trying to attain a PLB title or higher rankings I don’t have the freedom I want and am accustomed to.

Lenny: Do you multi-table when you play? What’s your max comfort zone?

mr. menlo: I like no more than four. When I’m playing cash games I pretty much never do more than that. In MTTs I prefer not to go above four, but on Sundays there are so many tourneys worth playing that sometimes I’ll do six or seven.

Lenny: Who do you talk to about poker when you want to go over a hand?

mr. menlo: Most of the time either AK87 or wuddacooler. There are a lot of other really good players who I ask advice from, but I’d say those are the two people I talk to the most.

Lenny: How much of poker success would you ascribe to talent, and how much to hard work and experience.

mr. menlo: I would like to think that there is definitely some talent involved. I picked up poker very quickly and have always been able to adjust to new levels and get better, as I go. I doubt that everyone in the world could get to the level that I have if they worked as hard as I have, but I think that hard work and experience are far more important than natural ability.

Lenny: If you could get inside the head of one poker player, who would it be?

mr. menlo: Phil Ivey.

Lenny: Are you making plays at every stage in the tourney, or are there times when you are on autopilot?

mr. menlo: I definitely go on autopilot sometimes, but it’s not at any stage in the tourney, more just when I’m playing poorly. When I am playing well I am always paying attention.

Lenny: Some players advocate taking any position where you are a favorite no matter what. Are you always ready to gamble, or do you prefer to wait for better spots?

mr. menlo: If there is a spot where I am guaranteed to be a favorite, I am almost always going to take it. I don’t like using the word ‘always’ in poker because it is such a complex game. If I were just running over the table, winning 6 or 7 pots an orbit and you offered me the better half of a coinflip, I might pass, but that’s so rare these days.

Lenny: What would you say is the best way for the average break-even or low-limit winning player to take the next step?

mr. menlo: Just take advantage of the tons of information at their disposal. Between poker forums, training sites and books you have no excuses if you want to improve your game. You also just need to work hard, play a lot and analyze your hands by yourself and with other players whose opinion you respect.

Lenny: Do you have a favorite hand?

mr. menlo: 46 I suppose. No real story there, it just seems to hit for me a lot.

Lenny: Any memorable hands you’d like to share- great reads, lucky breaks or just a fun hand?

mr. menlo: Hmmm, I guess I’d have to say the one that comes to mind is when I called Gus Hansen on the river in a huge pot in a cash game. There was four to a straight on board and I called him down with two pair.

Isaac “mr. menlo” Baron’s birthday is July 10st, so if WSOP scheduling continues next year as it did in 2007 he might just make the cutoff to register for the main event. On the bright side, if he does manage to get in he would be a shoo-in for the youngest U.S. bracelet winner. Oh, and Main Event Champ. In the meantime mr. menlo will have to be satisfied with playing outside the U.S., but that isn’t a big problem for the young man who looks forward to the travel. He is recently returned from Aruba and has the Bahamas and Melbourne Australia on his itinerary in the coming months, with a few EPT events “sprinkled in”, so he will certainly get his fill of travel. Hopefully this 21st century wizard of Menlo Park can work his magic at one of these events and bring a title home to the Left Coast.