CARDRUNNERS
What's Your Edge
Taylor Caby: Poker Blog
Hi, short update again. This week was a hectic one. We had a lot of people in town that usually work remotely, and it was some long hours at work. I also managed to have some fun over the past week or so, I guess I'll just list off some random stuff. I will keep this short as I am about to do a power-hour with some friends so we can re-live our glory days of 5ish years ago.
Taylor
***UPDATE***
The Pizza was fantastic, I have to admit. I HIGHLY recommend getting the BBQ Sauce with chicken, for your standard BBQ Chicken Pizza. Please refer to that as the "tay," btw. Funny story, the Pizza took way too long to get here (like an hour when it said it would be 30 minutes), so on the page where it gives you detailed information of where your pizza is you can also leave comments. I left the following comment:
"Pizza supposedly left the store 30 minutes ago and is still not here. I will be blogging about this experience, blogs.cardrunners.com/taylor, please let me know if you can do something for me."
I'd say 10% chance someone gets in touch with me and gives me a coupon, I know I do things like that when I see people saying nice things about CR. I hope I get some Dominos coupons....I'll let you guys know if I do.
Seriously though, get that pizza, it's really good. Unanimously agreed upon by all eaters that for 12 bucks for 2 pizzas was a very good deal. I also recommend the sandwiches if you are looking for a sandwich that sort of tastes like Pizza.
Jan 31, 10 08:26:58
the dominos pizza here is some of the best around. i also love ordering online, it's very well made.
Jan 31, 10 09:06:22
i remember your rants on how bad domino's pizza was last year. i look forward to hearing the update.
Jan 31, 10 10:14:26
I miss Domios, my university campus is out of town and they wont deliver here.
Jan 31, 10 15:53:23
hey maybe they didn't fart on your sandwich or stick the cheese up their noses.
Jan 31, 10 19:03:10
Pick up artist skillz? Don't u have a gf? She has to read this blog lol...
Jan 31, 10 20:06:22
We got a cpl Dominoes pizzas yesterday to watch Kansas-Kansas St. game. Took over an hour when they said 30-40 minutes as well ... but we thought it was really good. Much better than it used to be. HOOK ME UP TOO, DOMINOES
Jan 31, 10 20:42:10
During the same year, they also introduced the Pizza Tracker, an online application that allows customers to view the status of their order in a simulated "real time" progress bar.
Feb 1, 10 00:18:47
i went to a pauly d dj event. hilarious. totally worth it. the pics are priceless.
Feb 1, 10 00:21:47
Oh my God dude.....so I had about 12 friends over on Friday afternoon and everyone was really hungry so we ordered Domino's. Was supposed to take 30-40 mins. After an hour I called them and said that my order was late and this had happened last week as well (it did). They put me on with a manager and he was not apologetic in any way and just kept making excuses. He also told me that the food was on the way. I hung up after that.
40 minutes later, the pizza still wasn't there! I called back and asked the manager how it's taking over 40 more min when my house is 5 min away and the pizza was 'on the way', he just keeps making up complete bs excuses. I told him to cancel the order. 10 mins later after we already ordered something else, the delivery driver shows up. I tell her that I cancelled the order and to just send it back, then 5 min later she comes back and says the pizza is just going to get thrown away anyway so my roommate offers her \$5 and she gives it to us. This was 3 XL pizzas so solid bargain, but man what an awful experience. The manager has no business being in the service industry. Never ordering from Ithaca Domino's again.
Feb 1, 10 14:41:36
FYI - Joes on Weed is having a couple Jersey Shore events in the next month. I know youre a fellow Illinois guy, so I'm assuming youre familiar with the place!
Feb 1, 10 23:20:35
Dominos changed their recipe but it is yet to be seen if they will change their slogan from "If you don't get diarrhea in 30 minutes or less, then your pizza is free" Time will tell.
-Matt
Feb 2, 10 16:05:32
wow taylor your like a multi millionaire and your looking for free dominoes coupons??? What kind of tightass are you and how is that a funny story lol loser. you obviously got bullied at school!
Feb 3, 10 15:15:50
smc,
yes, i was bullied a lot as a kid. i think your assessment is accurate -- i am a loser and i like to use coupons, two qualities that bullies love to hate.
gl
Feb 7, 10 14:23:34
Haters gonna hate. Go get em Tay.
Clearly the WSOP CR party NEEDS to have Jwowww slutting it up... that is all.
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Hey guys. Been almost a month since I updated. It's funny, because I read a lot of poker player's blogs and I get kinda pissed when they don't update. Typical hypocritical poker player's mentality, I guess. That's one thing I like about Phil Galfond's blog, he updates it pretty regularly even just to say "hey, I haven't been doing a lot lately." I like that, maybe I will get back to that.
Jan 19, 10 20:07:47 Played a session of rush poker today and people are supernits. Lots of fun today but will get kinda boring playing each hand 'in a vacuum' imo.
Jan 20, 10 00:37:17 You should prob also mention that you get insta dealt a new hand after you fold. lol@ folding and just moving onto onther table.
Jan 20, 10 12:50:52 "It's hard to get reads on players because you are constantly playing with new people. Current HUDs don't work on these tables, and bumhunting is impossible. Kudos to FTP..."
Jan 20, 10 16:19:10 Players who are rakeback pros will love this im sure. Seems like u could play an insane amount of hands 4 tabling this.
Jan 20, 10 16:20:26 Max,
Jan 20, 10 16:24:20 Also,
Jan 21, 10 17:41:35 Rush Poker is a brilliant idea by FTP!! Why not get more hands in and reward those who get rakeback with tons of volume??!! After playing at the 25NL and 50NL level, strategy is pretty simple and I've been able to use a system I put together pretty well at these tables with amazing results so far (nice bankroll addition). Taylor - Is CardRunners gonna do a Poker Instructional/Intro Video on Rush Poker?
Jan 22, 10 01:20:46 In all fairness, the lack of a HUD is a minor inconvenience at most. The determined HUDbot can still leave their PT3/HEM open and manually search for a player when they're involved in a significant hand. I don't find it viable or useful to do so at 50NL since there are too many players for the HUD to give any meaningful data and because I find it difficult to keep up with it while playing 4 tables, but for those who consider the HUD more important there will always be work-arounds as long as hand histories are available.
Jan 22, 10 10:10:28 A rush HUD will be out in an upgrade for PT3 or HEM soon, you can count on that.
Jan 22, 10 13:03:24 That's also true. TableNinja uses screen scraping and operates within FTP's rules, so I'd be surprised if it was very long before one of PT3/HEM came out with a Rush HUD.
Jan 22, 10 15:53:34 vvega,
Jan 24, 10 15:19:02 Seriously....Let's blog about the new FTP gayness game that we are responsible for pushing.
Jan 25, 10 12:59:35 haha, you've been hating on me and my company for a few years now.
Anyway, here for two reasons. The first is just to say hello and also mention that I wrote a really long post about a week ago but I basically forgot about it. I had some video I took over the Holidays I wanted to share, but I have been lazy about getting it off my flip thing onto my computer. I'll post that later this week.
Check it out here: http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/rush-poker
Also, remember, you can get CardRunners completely for free just by playing at FTP -- no need to create a new FTP account, no hit to your rakeback, doesn't cost any points or money: www.trulyfreepokertraining.com
Are you serious? How could Rush poker be a good thing? Since poker is a game of incomplete information this move by FTP is horrendous! Why would you want to limit the amount of information you can get even more?
Crucial things (all essential to winning poker) like table selection, position (in relation to certain players) and READS go out the window.
Might as well go play Keno for God's sake!
I should have been more clear with my post. You can get reads, it's just not as simple as installing a piece of software or using sites that are against the TOS (but not enforced) to do so.
This benefits the players who actually work to find their own edges. Before rush poker, the single most important thing to winning at poker was good table selection.
There are a lot of different strategies that can be applied to Rush poker that couldn't be applied to a normal game due to software/tracking sites.
Finally, don't discount how important it is for fish to be having fun. I can comfortably say that Rush poker is a lot of fun.
At present, there are tons of players in the player pool. At high stakes, I expect a typical rush game to have significantly less, maybe 50 players in the pool at a time. You'll be seeing the same players over and over again, just in differnt situations, without the luxury of using products that are against the TOS, without the ability to bumhunt, etc. I think this is a net positive for the online poker community.
our first Rush vid was released last night. it's a FR vid.
this weekend we are releasing a 6max micro stakes strategy vid.
late next week we will have a .5/1 6max strategy vid from a Team CR pro.
gl
tay
I have no fking idea why I come here to read this shit even once a month. I seriously hate what you douchebags stand fr and represent. This blog entry just reinforces that.
The most of you are cheaters and have played a part in fucking up the online game.
go busto PLS
it's people like you that motivate me in life. i actually mean that, i do much better when there is a little bit of adversity. thanks for creating that in your very own special way.
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Joey "jcl" Lawrence has become quite a popular pro this year. I think he flies a bit under the radar because he is new to the video making scene, but if anyone is interested in reading about a "it can happen to you" CR success story, he's a great example. A lot of people ask me if it is still possible "in this day and age" of online poker to move from a small stakes beginner to being a high stakes reg. I'll admit, it's tough, but it can happen. Give his latest blog a read, it's really pretty awesome.
He's got a HSNL video coming out tomorrow and his previous videos at CR have been pretty fantastic. Give 'em a watch, who knows, maybe next year it could you be!
Anyone else have any poker/CR success stories for 2009? Give me a shout in the comments and I'll link you in a later blog. I'd love to do some interviews with you guys in the beginning of 2010. Best story in the comments wins a CR hoodie...it's gotta be real, though :).
Talk to you later guys, have a safe holiday.
Taylor
Link: http://blogs.cardrunners.com/jcl/2009-a-breakout-year
Dec 25, 09 03:44:06
Merry Xmas
My story, is not a success story (yet), but something that I think is pertinent to share in the context of Taylor's blog post above.
I've been playing (ie depositing fairly frequently) over the past 2 years ... and needless to say without too much 'success'. Whilst I felt I played well live (being a winning player in cash & MTT's), I just couldn't convert this into my online results.
In September of this year I decided to join a training site as I was about to be home for 2 weeks due to surgery (fwiw - torn achilles tendon), and felt that the time I would have to myself, would be ideal to start to learn what the online world knows and what I'm missing.
So from late October to early November & after scanning a few video's I decided to concentrate on SNG's - as I felt this would protect me from the tilt sessions that I often found myself in when playing cash games.
Next step was to watch Jackals' and Braminc's videos, and thankfully found instant success! My PT3 graph was going in the right direction, and my ROI over the 100-odd games after watching these vid's was an impressive +21% .... yeah baby!!!
So by mid/late November, I thought I learned everything I needed to and found my poker home.
But alas, that feeling was only momentarily ... sigh... then b/n late November & mid December the "inevitable" variance started to kick in and that positive ROI started to shrink at a rapid rate.... to the point of going to breakeven... what THE ??!?!!?
I thought that I only had to watch a few videos and bingo ... I shall become the poker guru that I envied so often.
Then 2 weeks ago, after reading a few posts in the forums, I realised that I had to CONSTANTLY evolve my learning and understanding of poker, and I thus found myself going back to where I started - reviewing the forums, watching at least 5-7 CR videos a week, and reviewing HH's ... something that I thought I wouldn't need to do.
Anyway, after reading JCL's blog and reading Brian's well on 2+2 over the past 2 days, I have come to the realisation that I can get to where I want to be ... I just have to .. no no MUST .... keeping learning and challenging myself in this game that they call poker.
Cheers
Dec 25, 09 23:59:17
ok,iam in a pretty bad state of mind now, and running like crap at plo, so i am going to write this to cheer myself up.
i started playing poker in 2006 i think during the whole poker boom thing and was the biggest degenerate, i must have busted about 300
50-100\$ and must of blown like 30-40 1k+bankrolls in one night, i had my moments where i cashed out 5k once and some more, but overall i was a huge degen that chased losses and was mostly broke.i think i was down about 10-15k from 2006-2008 and iam a colege student. late 2008 i found 2p2 and started visiting the psychology section started reading forums,etc... and thats where my new poker personality developed.from late august 2008 to about march 2009 i was doing ok, but i would stil have huge setbacks due to tilt control and bad br managment. at the time i was delivering pizza for a local restaurant. i finally decided that if i am ever going to ever be a winning player i would have to master the emotional intelligence and work on my game.
it was late august 2009 and i was taking summer classes and i had decided that this was it,
so i bought a 1month stox membership with 5000 fpp points and watched all the jared tendler vids, i also bought kill tilt now, your worst poker enemy, elements of poker and the poker mindset. i studied all of this while taking notes and tips from every piece in my tilt diary. and the results were very good. i have not worked for the past 4 months, was able to pay for fall semester+go on vacation(amsterdam) and live a comfortable lifestyle. also going to canada for the newyear's to clear my head as i feel like i've been on tilt for the past week and can't get nothing going. so i am just going to relax for the next week and start fresh next year.
my goals for 2010 will most likely focus on mostly school,but thats another story,might start a blog, but ayways thanks for the vids and happy holidays
Dec 26, 09 22:47:23
In December of 2008, I was sitting in a card room waiting for my spot to open up on 2/3 nl hold em. It was some cardroom outside of Spokane, WA. I lived a shitty live. I traveled 50 weeks out of the year for work. I was making good money, but the only thing I could do to cope with my hate for my job was play poker. I thought I was awesome. I had, on multiple occasions, ran 200 dollar buyins into 1500-2000. I thought I could be a great player. It was at this time, as I was waiting for a spot, that I was reading one of the free magazines. There was an interview with one of the inet kids, and he mentioned CR and how well it worked for him. I didnt put to much into it at the time, but I still remember reading that line.
In January of this year, I decided to return to school for my Masters Degree. I started to occasionally play poker online. I bought a pc, installed HEM, and was learning what online poker was all about. I didnt take it to serious though.
Then august came. I started an FTP account with RB through CR. I signed up for TFPT. I started to play. I put 500 on ftp, and played 25NL. I shortly ran it up to 1K, at which point I took at shot at 50NL. I got broke off. I ended up complaining about it in the chat room, where I met someone offering cheap coaching. I started taking lessons. It really helped. I turned my ways around at 25NL. During this time, I was watching videos, reading the forums, and joined a group that started out of the forums. With all these things centered around CR, my game started to take off. I put in a lot of hands. I play a lot. I try to improve my game. And with the help of CR, it has worked. I went from depositing money on FTP to grind 25NL on August 23rd of this year, and I am currently taking shots at 200NL. It is only a matter of time that I reach higher limits. I have also been keeping a blog about my journey. It isnt updated as much as it should be, but its a good read for the people out there trying to do the same thing.
So yeah, CR has been a huge help. I look back at what I thought I knew playing live poker, and it was nothing. I was a horrible player. But over the last couple months, with the time and dedication, I am climbing the latter. I want to make it to the limits that JCL is playing, but I also want to make it to be a CR instructor one day as well. Then maybe one day, some guy will be in a cardroom reading my interview, and I will be talking about CR, and it will start his journey into gaining knowledge about this beautiful game.
Jan 4, 10 09:30:48
i turned a \$600 roll into \$120k this year, climbing fron 25nl to 1knl, I don't have a blog but could start one maybe if I wasn't so lazy :D
Jan 10, 10 06:46:23
how u can do that omgczzarr lol.
me 50 and my goal is nl100 but so many swing so i cant for the moment
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Now, let's talk about the things I don't spend money on. I always thought I would want a really nice collection of watches. It seemed to me that having a lot of nice watches was a symbol of success in the world. After buying one, it's clear I'll never make a point to start a collection, but I do see myself getting a nice watch or two sometime down the line. When I was 19 I set a goal to own a BMW by the time I was 30. I bought one (used, 3 series, nothing over the top) when I turned 23, and it's arguably been a pretty poor purchase. I don't drive often, I don't know much about cars, and I don't find a whole lot of additional satisfaction in owning an entry level luxury vehicle. I thought I would want to own a bunch of real estate because "that's what rich people do." Well, I bought a place when I graduated but have since moved out and have been renting for a few years. I still get questions all the time as to why I am "burning money" renting, but it's been one of the best decisions of my life. If anyone is genuinely curious, I'll do another blog post about that, just let me know.
Alright, time to go play some hoops. I'm headed to Dallas for a day at Jim's sweatshop then I'll be back in Chicago until the New Year. Good luck in life and at the tables.
Taylor
Dec 14, 09 20:05:37
do you still live in wicker? if so, you have quite a few excellent restaurants to choose from. (if you haven't been to mana yet, you must go.)
Dec 14, 09 22:28:12
Taylor,
I would be interested in hearing your blog about why your decision to rent over owning was one of the best of your life.
Dec 14, 09 22:32:43
Taylor,
I would be interested in hearing your reasoning for renting over buying.
Dec 14, 09 23:11:10
lol that watch is 80 bucks? i think id rather by a cheap fake one no offense. also you can spend money on escorts or strippers which is intangible and you dont forget that so i totally agree with that whole argument
Dec 14, 09 23:11:13
lol that watch is 80 bucks? i think id rather by a cheap fake one no offense. also you can spend money on escorts or strippers which is intangible and you dont forget that so i totally agree with that whole argument
Dec 15, 09 00:37:50
definitely would love a blog post about why you feel renting rather than buying was a better decision for you
Dec 15, 09 05:26:59
I personally would love a blog about why the bulls suck so bad and how John Salmons somehow manages to shoot 17% 3 point shooting when I bet on them to cover and 85% when I bet against them.
Any help would be much appreciated.
Dec 15, 09 08:21:45
its like someone took fashion and vomited over it...
i think there is nothing wrong with having a nice tastefull understaed but decent quality watch that you dont make a big deal out of - I dress probably in a similar vibe to you - as in clothes that are cut well and are a good quality but I HATE lables and would never wear something that said Gucci or DG or w/e insanity people feel they need to wear in order to satisfy their ego, showing others they are rich. I wear this watch:
http://flylyf.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/36065_l-600x958.png
Dec 15, 09 11:01:03
that watch is kinda ugly dude. make your rolex the daily wear imo. and buy a patek as a special watch. :)
Dec 15, 09 12:27:54
i think taylor found a girlfriend somewhere during that chonicalization of events and decided he didn't need to impress the ladies anymore.
Dec 15, 09 13:39:21
Not feeling it, but I do agree with your point of view overall, cool post.
Dec 15, 09 14:08:13
I think you should go out one night wearing both that watch and the Rolex.
Dec 15, 09 17:51:45
Hey Taylor I'm curious as to why you rent over own- also it'd be good to see you in the CR chat more often.
Dec 15, 09 19:02:00
i understand how you feel.
a couple weeks ago i downgraded myself to amex green.
Dec 15, 09 23:30:10
never really understood the whole watch thing, even if you're the type that keeps track of time-don't most people have cell phones now?
Use money to do cool stuff.
Go to the oscars, get good seats when the bears make the superbowl. etc....
Dec 16, 09 00:22:17
I like how you put things in perspective.
I say buy whatever your heart desires, no matter how funny the watch may look. jk
I'm also a fan of having nice stuff without the flashy logo or brand name proclaiming itself to the world. They have a certain air of dignity about them.
I'd also like to hear you talk about renting vs owning.
Dec 16, 09 00:28:26
Eww that watch is uglier than that robot looking dude in the hot chicks with douchebags pic. And make the rent vs own blog I am very interested
Dec 16, 09 17:05:50
I would be interested in hearing your reasoning for renting over buying.
Dec 17, 09 07:14:02
I happen to find most flamboyantly high status and or expensive stuff to be signs of weak character. It has the opposite of the desired effect. When I see someone pull up in a really, really expensive car it makes me think they're insecure. The cheapest watch will keep time just as well as the most expensive. Arriving in an expensive car instead of a Honda really doesn't make your life any better. People will say they're paying for 'performance' or something which is silly.
I don't mind expensive things, except when they aren't really any better than inexpensive things, or when the whole point is to show people you've got money.
Dec 18, 09 17:44:48
@StayingWarm A loan is never a hedge against inflation. The interest on a loan will always cost more than the inflation of the dollar over the same period. Otherwise you could make a killing taking on loans and selling them back for a profit :p
The only thing that hedges against inflation is something that maintains or rises in value. A house can be a hedge against inflation, but only if you own enough of it to offset the interest on any mortgage on the home.
Dec 19, 09 05:05:43
I'm curious as to why you think renting is better than buying for sure. My goals for next yr were to buy a BMW and buy a house. This blog post is telling me I might regret both?!? :)
Dec 21, 09 13:19:09
i almost bought a Breitling but changed my mind because of the same reasons u stopped wearing rolex.. have bought this one http://www.casio.co.uk/Products/Watches/G-Shock/GW-M5600-1ER/At_a_Glance/
a bit retro.. now about yours i think its even more coll not sure if to change though ;)
Dec 21, 09 13:57:39
(I hope) what Taylor is trying to say is that he learned not that real estate is a bad investment (no time to buy any market like when it's down) but that it is bad to consider OWNING YOUR OWN HOME an investment. The reason is simple; you need to live somewhere. Say you buy a home for $300k. A boom hits and in a few years it's worth $600k. You can sell it and make money, but you're forced to decide between 1) moving to a lower cost market where you can get a nice house for less \$, 2) downgrading in the market you live (i.e. putting your initial $300k into another home, which you could have originally bought for $150k so it's not nearly as nice as what you're used to) or 3) renting and hoping prices go down. All three of those require some level of personal sacrifice (especially as you get older and get a wife and kids). It's best to take the mindset of using your personal residence for strictly non-montary reasons.<BR><BR>
The only caveat is that your personal residence is still used, consciously or not, for investment purposes - only as a leveraged hedge on inflation. Hedge on inflation b/c you're paying back money you borrowed today with money from tomorrow (which, history has shown us, will usually be worth less than money today. If your parents bought there house 30 years ago, $1 would have gotten them into a movie. Now it takes $15 to do the same thing. I'd sure rather pay back the $300k on my house in 30 years - or over 30 years - than with todays dollars). And leveraged b/c obviously you only put a % down on a house (unless you're an uber-baller poker stud) so you get 5x or more of the value of inflation (assuming you put 20% down) as a benefit.<BR><BR>
So, own a home b/c it adds to your life satisfaction and take pleasure in knowing you're paying the bank back with dollars that aren't as valuable as the ones you borrowed. But then go out and buy some investment property. If you're willing to put sweat equity in (renovating houses, managing apartments, etc) the ROI on investment real estate will blow away 90%+ of other investments. But that's another story.
Cheers<BR><BR>
EDIT - Wants is correct (couple notes below); I was simplifying a complex topic as I thought it would work here. Buying a house isn't the best way to hedge against inflation (if you're that concerned, but a raw materials fund or inflation-adjusted TIPs) but it is a great side benefit when you buy something for the primary benefit of satisfaction of having a place to live (and, as some of you know, to make your wife happy)
Dec 21, 09 17:02:07
I think you should obviously spend your money on things that are both tangible and intangible, like a butler. The service would be tangible, but your relationship with your Alfred-esque batman-style butler would last a lifetime.
Also maybe a segway.
Dec 22, 09 13:17:49
You should consider investing. It is not "flashy", is extremely intellectually stimulating, is highly rewarding when done well, etc. For example, I own shares of Coca-Cola (KO), which I bought this summer. Now whenever I see somebody drinking a Coke Zero, it makes me feel good. Plus I get dividends every 90 days and I can watch my investment grow in value over time. Similarly, I own shares of Berkshire Hathaway, which owns GEICO. Whenever I see the Gecko, I not only laugh, I also mentally register another cha-ching in the bank account - positive EV, if you like. Investing is sorta like having a kid that you can watch grow and mature over time - except the kid PAYS YOU (not vice versa). FWIW, I've studied Buffett's investing methodology [based on the famous Margin of Safety] intensely for several years and can provide you insight into how it works if you are interested.
BTW, I own a \$20 Tommy Hilfiger watch that my Aunt gave me for Christmas 2 years ago (retail value - \$80 - she got it on sale), and it's damn nice - better than a Rolex, b/c it was a present. Peace.
Dec 22, 09 21:10:37
What you do doesn't necessarily have to be self-serving.
As long as you're not hurting yourself or anyone else then that is what it's all about in my book.
Dec 23, 09 23:36:23
I really don't get all the watch thing.
When I had a real job, the "which watch do you have ?" subject was a recurring one.
What, you spend a ton of money to buy an object that is nowadays totally useless because everybody has a cellphone,
So what's really the point ?
What do you think you achieve by buying a watch ?
By wearing a watch, you just want to show other peoples your social status. The more expensive the watch is, the higher status you want to be part of (doesn't mean you are). Nowadays, buying an expensive watch is the same thing that was buying a name in the times of aristocracy in europe.
In a way, you must have very low self-esteem if you need to BUY a watch to get the consideration you want from other people.
And what kind of consideration ? "This guy has a Rolex"...and so ? does it makes you good, more interesting, or smarter ?
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Hey all,
When reflecting on the match, it's hard for me not to get a little bit nostalgic. I've known Brian Hastings since he was 16 years old. Yes, he was playing online poker at 16 years old. Yes (big lol) his math teacher at the time introduced him to poker. Brian was one of the first CardRunners members, signing up within a few weeks of our site launching. At the time he was mostly a SNG and MTT player, playing in the $100 sng's and mtt's at UB. I still remember filming one of my first videos at CR, a $200 SNG that I filmed in Andrew's room at our frat house. CardRunners had opened about a week before this video was filmed and we had maybe 50 members (not bad actually, lol). There was a guy in my SNG named Stinger885, and I remembered seeing his name on the message boards and Andrew told me he was a good player. In the end, we got down to heads up in the SNG and Brian beat me. I should go back and watch that video, I remember him being very competent and actually pushing me around a bit, back at a time when nobody pushed anyone around.
Within a few weeks we were poker buddies, chatting on AIM and the CR message boards. Brian started to work his way into the cash games and pretty quickly moved up to the $1knl+ games. Although I'm sure Brian would say that CardRunners helped him, he's one of the more "natural" poker players I have met. He's a sharp kid that has a pretty strong understanding of how other people are thinking and trying to win in a given game. It was no surprise to me that Brian moved up to the bigger games on the internet by 2006, and I still remember the first time he told me he was learning PLO. I told him I thought it was cool but that I didn't see a reason to because of how much money you can make at NLHE. Heh, I might have been wrong there, just goes to show how easy it is to be VERY wrong about something even when would consider yourself an expert on the subject.
I'm just really happy for Brian, but I should also mention Cole and Brian T. because they have all done well in the high stakes games over the past six months or so. I can assure you that those three guys have worked harder on their games than anyone you will meet. I'm sure they would all say they have a ways to go, but to go from not playing anything other than NL to playing pretty much all the games on the internet at the highest level is ANY amount of time is pretty impressive. It took them less than a couple of years, in some of their cases, maybe less than a year. People on the internet love to say disparaging things about successful people, so it sucks reading people saying things such as "they were colluding." First of all, I challenge anyone to try to group play 6 tables of HU PLO against a wild opponent. It would be a death wish. Anyone who watched the match saw how fast the action was, it was hard to keep up with it just watching, much less playing, and even much less, playing and talking about hands. It would be more credible to accuse them of switching off back and forth with who is clicking the mouse, which would be difficult while Brian is going to school in Ithica, New York, and the other two are in California and Washington, DC, respectively. The simple truth is that Brian T. and Brian H. have both worked hard on their games, both had a chance to play Isildur at mega high stakes, both took a shot, and Brian H. was fortunate to come out on top. It could have been anyone that day, it could have been Ivey, Antonius, Zigmund, whomever was fortunate to catch a good run of cards at the tail end of a long Isildur session. Hell, it could have been Isildur, the way he was going, it wouldn't have surprised me to see him win 4 million that night. It wouldn't surprise me to log on tonight and see it happen, either.
In poker, like in the real world, the hardest working, smartest people tend to have the most success. Notice that I said hardest working first, and that's what I think is most important here. These guys have worked harder on their games than anyone I know, and it doesn't hurt that they all happen to be some of the smartest people I know as well. I feel very lucky to have been able to learn about the game from each of them, and even luckier to consider them friends. Do I think that Brian H. ran really hot yesterday? Yeah, he would say the same. What people don't tend to talk about is just how poorly Brian T. ran before him. I don't remember the exact figure but it was something like 2 million below expectation in all-in pots. I'm shocked he was able to keep it together as much as he did, I could not have done that.
Dec 9, 09 17:20:57
I found this post by stinger on pocketfives last night...oh how times have changed.
My First Post
Stinger885 (United States)
07-06-2005 10:25 PM
Hello all. My name is Brian and I've been going on this site for several weeks now looking at some of the great stuff. Today I tripled my bankroll by winning the UB 1:00 \$2500 guaranteed tourney and cashing for \$912.60. I just want to say thanks to all whose posts I have read to improve my game and good luck at the tables!
Dec 9, 09 18:34:38
Great post Taylor, love hearing the old stories.
Glad you made mention that Brian T ran poorly and kept competing well as well.
Dec 9, 09 18:44:06
Taylor,
Awesome post and I can't tell you how much it means to me to hear you say all those generous things about me. It means a lot coming from you especially.
damnIsuck,
Oh. My. God.
Dec 9, 09 19:39:26
Stinger Owns
Spudt24 (United States) 86 Posts. Joined 07-25-2005.
02-14-2006 9:17 PM
After reading about the same people "owning" the same MTTs, as well as, players blowing off school, I'd like to give a huge shout out to Stinger885.
Currently ranked 46th on the tournament leader board at extremetilt, and he's not even a "regular" MTTer, this includes 2 wins and 5 final tables on just UB.
Destroying 10-25 nl and now playing 25-50 nl. (Was playing 1-2 6 months ago). Crushing Party cash games too.
Going to Cornell next year to pursue engineering and to enjoy being young.
Kid is wise way beyond his years, is a class act at the table, and is probably the most respected member of CardRunners. His advice on the forums alone, make membership worth it.
Continue your success, buddy. You deserve it.
Dec 9, 09 20:09:36
I met stinger in vegas, and was stunned by how down to earth he was. Truly a class act. Props Stinger!
Dec 11, 09 12:30:29
Dec 11, 09 12:28:58
Juha Helppi
[Click to delete comment.] [Click to edit comment.]
Hi, Taylor.
I'm from finland and my friend has met Juha Helppi. I've understood that he's a real character.
That's a nice way of saying he's a bit of a asshole.
- LoveisHell
Dec 12, 09 06:29:52
Hi Taylor,
Plz man, make Jungleman a CR pro and ask him for some HU lessons.
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First things first, happy belated Thanksgiving to all of the Americans. We got a nice little Thanksgiving present this year with the news that the UIGEA deadline has been extended another six months. That's pretty damn good news, tip of the cap to everyone involved in the fight.
I flew into London a couple of days before the event and spent most of my time being jet lagged and sleeping during the day while laying awake at night playing poker in bed. The FTP Pros stayed at the Twickenham Rugby stadium which was pretty cool. I think it's the biggest rugby stadium in the world and is where London's team plays. There is a really nice gym attached to it as well so I got a chance to go workout a few times and generally enjoyed just bumming around the stadium area.
On day 1 I got to the set a few hours before we were starting, did makeup/interviews, met with some of FTP's people and just hung out. I was getting my makeup done next to Jennifer Tilly which was interesting. Chalk that up to one of those things you'd "never think you'd do," getting makeup done (yikes) next to a hot girl you've watched in movies for a good ten plus years. She and Phil Laak were asking about CardRunners and said that they tell their friends to watch the videos if they ever have questions about poker. Jennifer told me that she doesn't have time to watch very many videos anymore but still pays every month, to which I said "nice, keep doing that." I don't know if anyone watched this episode but Jennifer had an extremely low-cut shirt on showing off her figure and honestly she looked pretty damn good. Everyone was pretty much openly checking her out in the makeup room/studio and I didn't really know what to make of that. Phil seemed like a really cool boyfriend though, I'm sure she gets hit on everywhere she goes as an actress and good looking woman, but he said a few comments that basically poked fun at the obvious fact that everyone in the whole place was staring at his girlfriend. I soon would find out that I'd have to adopt a strategy I've never used before at the poker tables: make sure you don't get caught staring at the person next to you's cleavage while on TV. Something tells me Gus would have thought this strategy is nonsense but I digress.
So we were seated for the 6 handed SNG and I told myself I wasn't going to give any chips away. All of the players at the table (besides Jennifer) were pros and I'd surely have to run good to advance in this thing, but the worst thing you can do in this structure is just piss chips away raising too much trash or bluffing needlessly. I've been guilty of both of these in the past so it's fairly significant that I successfully didn't do either of these during this match. I was able to push Chris Ferguson off a slightly better hand by betting the flop and turn with a straight and flush draw, he folded A high. That's really the only semi interesting situation I can remember, I won a flip with TT v QJ to eventually knock out Chris, and slowly chipped up along the way as it didn't seem like anyone was really eager to come over the top of me. I talked to the internet qualifer, Bobby, after the match and he told me that he was pissed because he didn't come over the top of me a few times, mostly because he thoguht there were better spots at the table and didn't really want to mix it up too much with me. I think my table presence was fine and the fact that I was playing fairly solidly but still capable of getting out of line made for an overall nice expectation from playing at that first table.
As everyone reading this knows, though, it all comes down to the cards and I was lucky to have my good hands hold. I got down to heads up with Gus, him having a 2-1 chiplead or so. He whittled me down just a bit (I thought he played well) before I got it all in a couple times as a favorite and my hands held (A9 v kx and then something else where I dominated him). After winning these two all-ins, which were fairly standard when you are down to 10bb's or so, I had a pretty sizable chip lead over Gus. We went on a little break and Gus and I were chatting randomly about stuff. He seemed like a likable guy, asked a bit about CardRunners, and lol, he asked if I played poker. I think he thought i was just some kid who invented poker training and hired people to make videos. He looked surprised to hear that I've played for a living for 5 years and mostly play HUNLHE. Gus talked a bit about the mix gmaes that have been running on FTP and said he's done pretty well in them overall but PLO has been tough. From playing with him for a few hours live and from listening to his interview before the match started, I can really tell Gus is a phenomenal tourney player. Like anyone else, he makes mistakes, but he puts a lot of pressure on everyone at the table and that type of strategy works especially well against the fairly soft fields that most tournaments have.
My next match was another pretty tough table. There was one unknown (who got knocked out on like the third hand KK to AA), Antonio Esfandiari, Tom Dwan, David Chiu, James Aikenhead, and Dag Mikkelson. There wasn't really anything all that notable about this match except for Antonio being Antonio, which always makes for a fairly entertaining time. Tom got coolered really badly losing QQ to KK when he had a pretty decent stack; nothing you can do at a shallow stacked SNG when that happens. I was super card dead the whole time, and ended out getting it all in with K6ss v TT and sucking out. I ended out knocking Antonio out on the final table bubble with A6 v QT, honestly I don't know if calling off A6 in the SB v Antonios cutoff shove was right (i don't remember the exact bb's so I won't try to guess, it was something between 8-11). I asked about 5-6 people that I respect and I got the answers split down the middle, so I guess the answer is "it's close." I'm freaking glad the hand held and I'm very surprised it did in fact, it was almost a weird feeling once the hand was over and everyone in the studio was congratulating us on making the final table.
I had a very hard time with that situation. I am very bad at acepting compliments or congratulations on things, I just get really weird and awkward when there is positive attention on me. Maybe just attention on me in general, I don't know. We were all sitting there as the cameras were all over us and they were preparing for interviews and I was just thinking to myself that I didn't really know how to feel and I knew I was glad I made it but I just felt uncomfortable. I've always wanted to make a major final table and I'm super glad to have a chance to win a TV event, but it's sort of like when I made it it didn't really feel exactly like I thought it would. I mean, I'm no different than I was the day before that event yet now suddently I have made a TV final table and lots of people have been saying how awesome I must have played to beat a tough field. I really want to tell people that while I think I played well, I mostly just feel like I ran pretty good and didn't make any mistakes. Maybe thats what tournament poker is, you just play solid and every once in awhile you run good and then everyone will tell you how great you are. If it wasn't for lots of people having watched my CR videos, I don't think very many people would have said I was great at poker from the years and years of cash game hands. I guess that's just it, I just don't feel like I deserve "congratulations" for making one final table. I wish someone would come up to me and say "hey man, great job starting out being a broke college kid and figuring out a ridiculously profitable strategy for exploiting thousands and thousands of recreational online poker players at the cash game tables. Oh, and fuck off for teaching thousands and thousands more this strategy." At any rate, maybe my grandkids someday will be able to see the film of me winning a 20k buy-in poker tourney. After watching it they will likely ask me if they can have 20k to go to the movies, with hyper-inflation and all.
This random train of thought sort of reminds me of when I talk poker with my girlfriend. She doesn't play, although she is learning for our next trip to vegas (look out small stakes poker rooms), but we talk about poker pretty regularly. We don't talk specific hands obviously, but general concepts and psychology of the game and of just being in the industry. Every single time I bust out of a tournament my response is the same: "I feel like I played pretty well today, I got [insert # here] place, got my money in in a pretty standard spot and couldn't win the pot. Yep, that's how poker tournaments are, you lose, lose, lose, lose etc etc. and then you go win a few hundred grand." The best feeling of this final table was to be able to tell her "Yep, this is it, this is one of those times where I hopefully win enough to make up for all those crappy finishes over the past few years." Part of me just hopes she actually believes i know WTF I am talking about, not that one tournament really validates anytihng anyway.
So, what's next. I'll play some 6max SNG's online for the next day or two to sharpen up. Tomorrow there is press/photo stuff all day and then I might try to go into central London at night to hang out. The tournament starts at roughly 6 London time on Friday and I think you can stream it online, I'll have someone post something on the CR forums and Dashboard once we figure out where that will be.
Thanks for reading, wish me luck, I promise if I win I'll post something emo about how it didn't feel like I thought it would. Just kidding, I actually feel like bringing home 500k might feel exactly like I think it will :)
Oh, last thing, Lana will kill me if I don't mention this. We have a cool promotion going where you can win 1% of my final table winnings. All you have to do is register for Truly Free Poker Training (which is totally free and takes 1 minute to do). We'll pick one random person who will get a nice little payday out of it. Check out www.CardRunners.com/pieceoftaylor for all the info. A lot of people have entered so far, and if a lot of people are doing something, you should do it too.
Taylor
Dec 2, 09 20:20:25
I wish someone would come up to me and say "hey man, great job starting out being a broke college kid and figuring out a ridiculously profitable strategy for exploiting thousands and thousands of recreational online poker players at the cash game tables. Oh, and fuck off for teaching thousands and thousands more this strategy."
Awesome thought.... good luck Taylor
Dec 3, 09 08:56:03
hey man, great job starting out being a broke college kid and figuring out a ridiculously profitable strategy for exploiting thousands and thousands of recreational online poker players at the cash game tables. Oh, and fuck off for teaching thousands and thousands more this strategy
Oh and gl! :)
Dec 3, 09 19:29:12
20k for a movie with hyper-inflation. nicely done.
let me know if you are in champaign anytime soon
gl in the tourney obviously
Dec 4, 09 08:45:23
good luck taylor. i be rooting for ya when i sit down tonight to watch the show
Dec 5, 09 00:45:33
that comment about what u say to ur girlfriend is to standard. i use exactly the same speech with her and family!
contratz.
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Hey guys,
A really sad day for the whole CardRunners community. Longtime member "Lou Pinella" passed away this past week. I don't know very many details but I heard he was in a car accident, so tragic.
Lou was one of the first members of CardRunners, way back at the end of August in 2005. We looked back and found some old posts of Lou's, he was around from the beginning and was one of the most active forum members at CR. Lou was actually the most prolific poster at CR on version 1.0 of our site, which was active until roughly September of 2007.
I spent about an hour last night looking back and reading old posts by Lou and basically a lot of the early CR posts. Lou was really like a father figure to the CR community, as well as Andrew and I , from the beginning of the site. He was the first to congratulate us when we had a good run at the tables, got our degrees, added new features or pros to the site, and was also the first to ream us out if he thought we messed up.
People that are new to CR don't realize that this was a VERY small, tight-knit community of maybe 30-40 "regulars" for the first six months to a year. Poker Training was something that was looked at as overpriced and taught by internet kids who didn't know what they were talking about. It used to frustrate me to no end when losing poker players would scoff at the idea of paying us $30/month for education and act like we were flat out ripping people off. Now, over four years later, CardRunners has basically created an industry and is a popular destination for thousands of people every day.
I got a chance to meet Lou in person in Vegas two summers ago. He hung out with us at Blush at the Wynn and then the next day at our house in Las Vegas. It's crazy to think that I would never see him again after those two days of hanging out, I really thought that Lou would be around CR forever, he's was a "lifer" so to speak.
Some people might think it's weird to be really shaken up over someone's death when you've only met them in person for a few hours. If you knew what Lou meant to the CardRunners community (and I'm sure to everyone he knew in real life) you would realize that it's not weird at all. He came for the poker strategy and he stayed to share his life strategy. I have to say his life strategy was unique; in a world full of weak players he was the guy who wouldn't fold his button if he was dealt only one card. In a world where everyone on the internet feels like they have a license to show the world their insecurities, Lou was just an old fashioned good guy who told it like it was but was still a friend to everyone.
Lou loved his son and his wife more than anything else, basketball and poker were a distant second. If by some chance they read this I hope they know what a good person Lou was, through and through.
As I reflect on Lou's death I am reminded again how much the CardRunners community means to me. We've all been through a lot together, some of us have been here for over four years, watching the videos, reading the blogs, posting on the forums, and spending a piece of our days together talking about poker and probably even more time not talking about poker. I just wanted to thank everyone that's been around these parts, whether it's for a day or years or some time in between, it's been a great ride so far.
Rest in Peace, Lou Pinella.
Nov 21, 09 13:40:36
Sad to hear
best wishes
I believe life is a revolving door so he lives on somewhere
Nov 21, 09 18:57:39
I am driving up to Seattle tomorrow night and will attend the service Monday morning. I will be bringing with me several CR members farewells to David 'LP' Doerr. I will report back after my trip. If you would like to write something to be shared with Patrice and Davis, feel free to email me at zimba@pokercurious.com
Nov 21, 09 22:53:27
Good post, Taylor. I have read the vast majority of Lou's posts on the forums and always found him very friendly. Sucks terribly when someone leaves us early. My thoughts are with his family and friends.
Nov 22, 09 03:38:00
I just got home from a party this evening and was super happy till i read this blog post. I remember lou as well from 2006 and even tho I didn't know him personally it almost brings me to tears that someone that halped me along the way has gone through such a tragedy and is no longer here with us. I am so sad to hear this and hopefully everyone else is safe this evening :(...... RIP
Nov 23, 09 08:18:27
Very sad, Lou is the guy who recruited me to CR, although I never met him in person, he was a good friend and will be missed by all.
RIP Lou
Nov 23, 09 09:13:57
Wow, I'm in shock reading this. So tragic. Lou was such a great guy and I knew him from the beginning of CardRunners.
Even though I never met him in person, he always messaged me, asking how school was going and giving me advice on the business I started. I could tell that he really took pride in helping young people develop, learn, and grow.
Nov 29, 09 22:17:03
very sad to hear. i read and enjoyed many of his posts but didn't know him personally. RIP.
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xoxo
taylor
http://blogs.cardrunners.com/BLAG
Nov 18, 09 01:30:45
jus saw the thread where u gave the guy his money back and id just like to say that you are an excellent human being
good karma for life i expect
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Hey all,
Just wanted to post a few things while I'm sitting around relaxing. Planning on meeting some friends out at a bar in a few minutes.
I released a high stakes leakfinder video today. It was tough for me to do this video because CR pro jcl played Phil Galfond, a very tough player who was playing an even more unorthodox style than he usually does. It's something that I talked about in the video, but it's worth doing whatever you can to give your opponents situations and information they aren't used to dealing with. Any successful online player sees the same situations thousands and thousands of times. In many ways, most of our decisions are made without much thought. This is a good thing, it allows us to play many tables in a profitable manner. Checking to the raiser, re-raising 3-4x preflop, betting 1/2-full put most of the time, etc. are all things we see in literally almost every hand we play. When you see a player making unusual (but thoughtful) decisions, even if on that hand alone (in a vacuum, as many say) will show less of a profit than a more "standard" strategy, it becomes very difficult to deal with. There's merit to adjusting your play in this manner to give your tougher opponents, the ones who watch training videos and generally play in an "optimal" manner, something new and difficult to deal with at the tables. At any rate, this is a short tangent, but what I'm trying to say is that you might check out this video because I think there was some good discussion and some overall tough decisions. It's probably a good video to watch if you are a 1/2-10/20 heads up player.
What else, oh yeah, durrr signed to Team FTP, congrats to him. Pretty awesome that "one of us," a young, mostly online player made it to highest sponsorship level you can get in poker. If any online player deserves it, it's gotta be Tom. I played with Tom fairly regularly for a few years and he's one of the good guys, really there isn't a bad thing to say about him.
Sorry if this sounds like a CardRuners commercial, I'm not good at or much into the self-promotion stuff, but there's something else you should check out. I have never played Triple Draw I honestly might start on account of Lee P's latest Triple Draw Video. If you know me, you know I'm not going to sit here and tell you to watch a Triple Draw video if it's not a video you should watch. There's not much else to be said than that, it's worth watching. I tell you what, if you watch it and you think it wasn't worth watching, leave a comment here and I'll make it up to you. Maybe guest CTZ host, CR t-shirt, or I'll just snub you because I do that sometimes. But seriously...watch it.
Alright...enough pimping of products I believe in and have a financial interest in promoting. Let's see..Main Event final table just happened. I gotta say, it was pretty fun to watch the Main Event this year. I watched this year's main event more than I had watched the previous 3 combined. After 2005 or 2006 I got really tired of TV poker because "OH MY GOD they aren't the best players in the world" and "oh my god AK beat 66 AIPF." Well now I think I appreciate it for what it is, mindless entertainment that can be pretty downright funny. I mean there are some freaking characters every year in the WSOP. Hellmuth goes crazy every year, some older guy just runs the table completely over, someone wins every all-in and becomes famous because of it. Frankly I think it's pretty cool. Even my parents were asking me about the main event, it's just a pretty damn big spectacle and it's almost embarassing to not know anything about what happened in it over the past few years. Count me as "back" as a poker fan.
This was a pretty terrible post, there was actually something else I wanted to say here but I can't even remember what it is. I have a real post updating you guys on my life over the past month or so but I don't have time to finish it. That should be coming soon, I'm feeling more motivated to write.
gl
Taylor
Nov 16, 09 03:55:12
I watch a lot of tv poker, not because its always quality play, but sometimes its just nice to mindlessly watch something like that and you can kind of feel the excitement of the people who are playing for a lot of money. For pokertainment and some truely bad play, watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHnTcxGDLOc
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Hey all, I have a long-ish blog post coming later tonight, but because this is time-sensitive I'll post something short now. PokerNews is hosting a charity poker tournament tonight to help fight breast cancer. I'm not involved in any way other than hoping the poker community can raise a lot of cash for the cause, but you might want to check it out if you play on PokerStars. I'd love to play actually but my freaking PokerStars account has been locked for a long time. That's actually a funny story, PokerStars has called Cole, Stinger, and some other random CR people asking them "what their association is with the GreenPlastic." I'm not a bad guy!!!!
Anyway, here's the link, check it out. If someone wants to swap some money with me FTP -> Stars I'll donate something to the cause.
ttyl.
link: http://www.pokernews.com/news/2009/11/help-fight-breast-cancer--play-in-the-bad-beat-on-poker-7523.htm
Nov 13, 09 00:00:15
don't think I can play, but Ill swap money with you if you want.
shut a pm
Dec 11, 09 12:28:58
Hi, Taylor.
I'm from finland and my friend has met Juha Helppi. I've understood that he's a real character.
That's a nice way of saying he's a bit of a asshole.
- LoveisHell
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