Plastic Fantastic

Taylor Caby is an online poker legend. Not only has he been around since the early days of the internet game, but he was one of the first young online pros to beat the biggest games available. He also co-founded CardRunners.com, the first and most successful online training site. Starting out as a modest bedroom business, it has grown rapidly, making Caby one of the most important figures in the teaching of the new generation of online players.

The beginning

‘I got interested in poker because my family played at Christmas. At first they wouldn’t let me play, but when I was 14 my parents relented and bought me a few books.’

‘It was around the time Rounders was released, and after watching that I played poker whenever I could and read every poker book I could find.’

‘I think my aptitude came from both hard work and natural ability. I worked hard on my game before most people started taking poker seriously. I really studied the game away from the tables. I’m fortunate that I have an unnatural ability to make decisions logically and without emotion. Also, I’ve always been comfortable taking risks and I think managing risk in poker is something I’m extremely skilled at.’

From zero to hero

‘I built a bankroll playing mostly small stakes sit-and-gos. There wasn’t one huge win which propelled me to the top. I started at $ 5 games in July 2003, and by the beginning of 2004 I had made around $ 15,000.’

‘I then moved to small stakes cash games because I was playing the biggest sit-and-gos at the time and I wanted to make more money. Cash games weren’t easy at first for me as the players were generally stronger, but after a few months I started to develop a winning style. When I finished my second year of college I think I had a $ 40,000 bankroll and was comfortable playing $ 5/$ 10 no-limit Hold’em.’

‘By the end of that summer I had a bankroll for $ 25/$ 50 no-limit, which was the biggest game online at the time. In early 2005 UltimateBet introduced $ 50/$ 100 no-limit and I immediately jumped in and, fortunately, continued to have success. I generally tried to play the biggest stakes I could.’

‘Recently I’ve taken a step back to work on CardRunners, and since Full Tilt Poker has introduced the $ 100/$ 200, $ 200/$ 400 and $ 300/$ 600 games, I’ve never been able to put together a good shot. I’m probably down about $ 300,000 in those games, so I usually just stick to the $ 25/$ 50 and $ 50/$ 100 games nowadays.’

Online celebrity

‘I developed a following online because I was one of the first young kids to get to the biggest games. Most of the people in these games two or three years ago were older pros or wealthy people.’

‘In late 2004, two of my friends started the website PocketFives. com, so I made an account there and started posting. I think people liked the fact that I was one of the winningest players online but I was still a member of the community, posting hands and discussing strategy.’

‘I also played a lot of heads-up sessions against Prahlad Friedman, who was the first player to have massive success using a loose-aggressive style. I did pretty well against him, running good and getting him to tilt, and it became well known as one of the first prolonged online duels.’

Big business

‘I started CardRunners with my friend Andrew Wiggins in 2005. Basically, we thought there was a better way to teach people how to play poker than through books and so on. We’ve put a LOT of work into the site over the past three years, but are very happy with what it has become.’

‘After college I thought about going into a more formal job – trading, investing, or some sort of finance job. I basically just decided that I would regret it later if I didn’t give poker my best shot. Not only did I give myself a chance to make an extraordinary amount of money playing, I now have some entrepreneurial experience as well. I think I made the right decision.’

The future

‘Lots of people have seen the success of CardRunners and tried to do it better than we do. We’re flattered that so many people think we have a great idea and are trying to replicate it, and the competition has driven us to work harder.’

‘My plan for the future of CardRunners is basically just doing more of the same. We hope to eventually be a household name in the industry, kind of like Super/System is today. I’m also considering business school at some point, but for the immediate future, I’m sticking with poker.’