CARDRUNNERS
What's Your Edge
Taylor Caby: Poker Blog I invested in a few startups over the past 12-18 months. One has been sold, and I’ll probably end out seeing a return between +/- 15% after the earn-out is complete. That’s a win in my book, as I definitely learned something about being a passive investor here. I don’t think I saw eye to eye with the person who was making all the decisions for the company. That’s not to say that he did a bad job or that I was right all of the time, I just didn’t really do a good enough job of either getting more involved or less involved. I felt like I was offering advice here and there, but I wasn’t involved enough to really make a difference, and had no voting rights or anything so my opinion was just that, an opinion. From now on, when I invest in a company, I’m either going to be a 100% passive investor and not worry one bit about what happens, or I’m going to make sure the situation is setup properly for me to give my input and more importantly, that I have enough time and desire to give good input. I think this was a good lesson to learn, and even in the worst case scenario, I’ve lost less than I would have lost putting that cash in the stock market.
I don’t even know where to begin here. So many things have happened that it’s hard to even put forth a good summary. In no particular order:
-Lee Jones, a legend from his stint as Poker Room Manager at PokerStars is now one of my co-workers. It’s pretty crazy as I can remember sending the guy emails 3 years ago wondering if he’d even read them.
-I’m now a Red Pro, along with the rest of “Team CardRunners.” I guess I don’t feel any different, but it’s just a cool feeling considering I had $3,000 dollars to my name about 5 years ago, now I’m actually paid to play poker. I’d have never predicted that, not in a million years.
-We’ve added Eric Liu, Isaac Baron, David Benefield, and Ryan Daut as lead pros. There have been WAY too many other additions to the CR Pro roster to list here, but I’ll just say that we wouldn’t be where we are without all of the contributions they make, so thanks to all of the new CR pros.
Poker has been a little bit meh for me this year. For the past year, my graph has been like this: Make X at 25-50 and 50-100, lose X taking a shot at higher stakes or in a live cash game. I’m not going to sit here and blame luck for all of my losses. I haven’t been dedicated towards poker like I was in years past, it just wasn’t a priority for me. That’s not to say I’m not improving as a player. The problem is that winning money playing poker is no longer important to me. That sounds silly, and I don’t want to act like I don’t care, but I’ve found it much harder to consistently play my best when it truly doesn’t matter if I win. I’ll have a stretch of a few months where I put together great results, then I’ll play pretty horribly for a day or two when I’m life-tilted or just too tired out to play my best game. I have one poker related goal for 2009 which I think should solve this problem.
On the plus side, I was invited to play on NBC’s Poker After Dark. My episodes should be airing in February of this year, so we’ll see how I look! I think it went pretty well but only time will tell how it goes. That’s another one of those “wow, really?” type things. Yeah, I guess it happened, but I’ll probably truly believe it when I see it on TV.
Takeaway from 2008:
- Take better care of myself. This includes: vitamins every morning (I need suggestions here, researching this tomorrow), more healthful diet (grocery shopping for more of my meals, no snacking after 10pm), and working out 5 days per week. I do a great job of the working out part when I get on a schedule, I just need to motivate myself. I am also doing a little “detox” over the month of January. I will not drink any alcohol for the entire month as I get back into the swing of things (only exception would be business situations where a drink may be borderline necessary). Finally, I’ve ordered the Herman Miller “Embody” office chair for my office. My posture is noticeably worse than it was a few years ago, so this chair should go a long way towards making sure it doesn’t get any worse.
- Keep a written log of every poker session I play. So many times I just don’t feel accountable for my wins and losses. I don’t really “care” about every single hand, which is something you just have to do. I’m going to write down every session’s results and I think that will help me play my best game more often than not. I may or may not update this blog with results, probably depends on how successful I am J.
- Get involved in one other business. I always see opportunities for side projects, but over the past year I’ve let them all go by. I’d like to take on at least a small role in another company, preferably an internet start-up. I’ll have to make sure I can fit this into an otherwise busy schedule, but I think I’m ready to stomach it.
- Keep enjoying life. Every time I look back a few years I think, “Man, things were so great back then, if only I could go back and do X again.” Well I’m tired of that attitude; I’m going to start enjoying things while I am actually doing them. I’ve only recently really started to appreciate some of the opportunities I’ve had. In order to do this, I need to: Take more pictures (camera suggestions please), continue to travel (Asia trip this spring and backpacking trip this summer), and spend less time worrying about things I can’t control. I do a pretty good job of this, but I can do better. I’m sorry this part of the post was a little vague, I don’t feel like discussing everything in complete public.
Dec 31, 08 17:06:19
Taylor,
It's been a pleasure getting to know you and the CardRunners crew this year, I'd just like to thank you guys for the opportunity and am glad to have contributed to the success of CR this year. Best of luck with your goals this year.
As for vitamins every day, you might want to read this:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6399773.stm
For reasons unknown to science, the human body doesn't take to synthetic nutrients like they do from natural foods. If you take that a step further and as an aside I think this silently speaks volumes about prescription medications. I know I try my damndest to not be on any long term prescription drugs, I basically don't trust any of them. I was on Prednozone (sp?) for like a month when I was 18 and I think it permanently changed my disposition.
Anyway, I'm sure I will be out to Chicago a bunch this year to visit my son hopefully we can grab lunch again or what not.
Maybe we can discuss a prop bet... I'm 220 right now, in college I was shredded at 190 so I have a long way to go. I sign up for the gym on Monday... weight loss isn't a huge concern for me, but we can work something out if you want.
Dec 31, 08 17:20:27
Awesome blog, kinda motivates me to write a similar one. You forgot to list being the world's best prop bettor as one of your accomplishments though.
Dec 31, 08 18:14:55
Fantastic entry. You seem to be very self-aware and are obv very motivated. I look forward to hearing about your successes (& learning opps) in 2009.
Jan 1, 09 03:19:59
The best vitamin advice I can give is to stay away from quick fix multi-vitamins, they usually are not absorbed very well by your body.
Make sure you get enough iron, vitamin d and vitamin c.
Fish oil (or any other compound that includes omega 3, 6 and 9) will do wonders for your working memory and concentration.
If you are looking to bulk up at all, get some protein shakes, whey variety. Consuming it as a liquid allows your body to absorb the protein faster, which makes it great for right after a workout.
Also consider cutting back on refined sugar. If you can avoid it for even a week (not as hard as it sounds) you will notice a difference. Avoid it for 3 months and you will never feel the same again. I had to almost completely avoid r. sugar for one of my rugby teams, just to make weight, and I never regretted it once I established the habit of reading ingredients.
Hope this info is somewhat helpful. Best of luck in the new year Taylor!
Jan 1, 09 05:25:15
Great entry Taylor. Good luck with your ventures in 2009.
Re vitamins, I agree with LJJones; you can get what vitamins you need in your diet by eating well. The "Vitamin" business is one of the worlds biggest scams....don't give them your money (btw..I am a Physician).
Instead, use your well-earnt money on a Canon 5D Mark II (http://gizmodo.com/5050899/canon-5d-mark-ii-officially-awesome-21mp-dslr-first-to-shoot-full-hd-video).
Cheers
Jan 1, 09 15:36:24
Tay,
I am a natuopathic doctor. If you want some professional advice on the health stuff feel free to e-mail me. I was also a personal trainer before graduating from my med school so I am informed in that area as well.
I know I've said some dumb things on here in past... I am a huge jokster at heart. If you do not feel comfortable asking me you should definately
See an accredited naturopathic doctor as this is right in there wheelhouse.
Email is. Dr_Kipfer@yahoo.ca
All lower case.
Gl
Jan 2, 09 00:14:49
My Uncle owns a Nikon D300 and it takes the most clear pictures I've ever seen on a camera.
Jan 2, 09 05:31:17
Keep up the good work in 2009 Taylor. Your blog is always an inspiring and entertaining read mate.
Best of luck for the coming year.
Jan 4, 09 10:24:47
Pretty inspirational read. To go from nothing to what you've achieved in 5 years is incredible. I dream of owning my own business, which I hope to make reality in 2009, even a tiny % of the success you have seen would make me a happy man.
I like how you have utilised the opportunities that you have been given. I really do admire the level of professionalism that comes with the whole CR package and the fact that it's run by people with an absolute passion for the game, with money-making not the ultimate priority.
I wish you even more success and really admire what you've done.
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Taylor Caby: Poker Blog
Taylor
chicago, il
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