CARDRUNNERS

Aaron, 21, currently plays professionally and lives in Las Vegas. A former student of ActionJeff's, Aaron specializes in tournament play and also enjoys heads-up games. He went to college in Florida before turning pro. He is currently ranked 31st in the PocketFives rankings.

Luke, 22, is a professional poker player from Buffalo, New York. He focuses on cash games online anywhere from 5-10 to 25-50 NL on Full Tilt as "FoldTOcash". He began his career early in the summer of 2005 with a $20 deposit on PokerRoom.com, his only deposit ever. While he has always played the majority of his play at full ring tables, during the second half of 2007, he began to expand his game to include HU and short-handed games on a regular basis. Becoming a more well rounded player helped him a lot in full ring games, where he saw a significant increase in his win rate.

While tournament play has taken up a very small percentage of his efforts, he has a $30 rebuy win for over $13k in June, 2006 that was a huge boost to his bankroll as he was playing 100 NL at the time, and a 3rd place finish in the $200 FTOPS 6 handed event in May 2007 for over $44k. In the coming year, he hopes to continue to move up the cash game ranks and play some large live events, including multiple events at the WSOP.

Serge, 27, is a lawyer who now plays poker full-time. Tournaments are his main game, and so far his biggest win was the PokerStars Sunday Million, where he took down $112,000 after a chop. While he was still working as a lawyer, he played and won tournaments on Bodog, Full Tilt, PokerStars, and UltimateBet despite his limited hours. Serge will focus on tournaments in his CardRunners videos, but he also plays 5-10 through 25-50 no-limit, medium-stakes razz, and HORSE. Serge will also write strategy articles and contribute in the tournament forums.

Brian 36, is a Phiadelphia Police Officer full-time and a semi-pro all-around poker player. He plays mid-stakes cash games in hold'em, both limit and no-limit, and pot-limit Omaha. He also plays sit-and-goes at stakes up to $200.

Brian is married and has three kids, so poker is a second source of income for his family. He has been playing live limit hold'em in Atlantic City since 1996, and he took up no-limit during the Moneymaker boom, when he also started playing sit-and-goes on PartyPoker. After he found CardRunners, he gradually moved up to 5-10 no-limit and bigger sit-and-goes, though family responsibilities have caused him to find a home at 2-4 no-limit and $100 sit-and-goes. Brian can also be found playing in low-limit cash games and sit-and-goes in order to better understand the always-changing opponents there, so he can provide the most accurate training and advice to low-limit players.

Dave, 36, is a part time player who has played poker all over the UK for the better part of a decade. Originally a tournament player, he is now focused on cash game play and has played almost entirely on the Internet for the last three years. Dave makes a healthy second income playing a wide range of games, from NLHE to Stud8b and all the variations of Omaha. Dave has been active on the internet for nearly as long as he has played, from the original Rec Gambling Poker to 2+2. He also writes a strategy column for CardPlayer Europe. At CardRunners, Big Dave D will focus on Omaha instruction, especially the hi/lo variety

Harry, 21, is a student at the University of Michigan. His regular games are 5-10 and 10-20 no-limit hold'em on Full Tilt and PokerStars. He is competent in full-ring play, but prefers heads-up, three-handed, and four-handed games. Harry also likes writing and using some of his poker winnings to do charitable

Brad, 21, lives in Atlanta, GA, and goes to Georgia Tech. In 2005 he became one of the first CardRunners members; he was dabbling in .25-.50 no-limit games at the time and saw immediate improvement in his play. After watching and taking notes on the videos, participating heavily in the forums, and picking up as much knowledge as possible, he moved up through the limits and settled at 5-10 no-limit. He has played 5-10 for about six months now, and he's comfortable staying at that limit while he's in school.

Brad owes much of his poker growth to his mentor, David "Gaucho2121" Paredes, whom he met through CardRunners. By constantly talking about poker over AIM, discussing hand histories, and sweating each others' sessions, he gained knowledge from a player more skilled and experienced than himself. If he could give one piece of advice to upcoming players (besides watching the videos), it would be to find someone who takes the game seriously and knows as much or more than you about the game. Talk strategy with them and learn from the experiences that you both have.

Brad is planning on starting his own business and becoming an entrepreneur when he graduates.

Thomas, 24, is a semi-pro who works for a major consulting firm in downtown Chicago. His interests outside of poker include music, electronics, and skiing. Thomas got his start in poker playing .50-1 limit hold'em online after reading Lee Jones' introductory book. He then moved to small-buyin sit-and-goes, where he was probably a very small winner, and invested whatever profits he made there in multi-table tournaments, where he made his first big score, $2,200, from a $20 entry.

After withdrawing most of it, he began his first (disastrous) foray into no-limit cash games. He eventually switched back to limit hold'em in late 2005 to build a real bankroll; his sole purpose was to learn to beat no-limit ring games consistently. He began playing six-max no-limit ring games seriously in 2006, and he quickly worked his way up to the 1-2 games on PokerStars.

By the end of February, he was making a good supplemental income, and he was content to grind 1-2 no-limit until he joined CardRunners in September. After a few months of watching Taylor's videos, he decided to take poker more seriously and started building up a bankroll for bigger games. He struggled with the move to 2-4, but finally settled in around January, and now he plays 5-10 and 10-20 no-limit on both Full Tilt and PokerStars.

If you ask Corwin where he gets his edge, he'll give you a simple answer: he considers plays that his opponents don't. Whereas the fish take bad lines, and the grinding regulars often choose the same ones robotically, Corwin believes that at all stakes, there are highly profitable strategies that bad players are unable to find and good players ignore out of habit.

Finding those strategies requires both thorough technical knowledge of the game and superior self-control, skills Corwin has used to become a big winner at stakes up through 10-20. Being able to beat those games has built him a substantial bankroll, but Corwin considers his network of poker friends, with whom he constantly dissects hands, even more valuable to his career than the money he's made.

Beating hold'em ring games is Corwin's biggest focus by far, but he also dabbles in tournaments, both live and online, and he takes great pride both in his students' success and his ability to explain concepts clearly during videos. His next goal is to establish himself at the 25-50 level; if history is any indication, the regulars there should watch out for some new, devastating techniques.

Ryan, 23, resides in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. He was chosen as Taylor Caby's protege on PocketFives, and has led a charmed poker life ever since. He won the WPT PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in January 2007 for $1.5 million. He is a full-ring specialist who has torn up the 25-50 no-limit games on PokerStars. Ryan also plays stud and other games.

Blake, 20, recently returned to Purdue after taking a break to travel and play poker. He made his reputation as one of the biggest winners in, and best-known players at, the 10-20 no-limit tables on PartyPoker. Blake likes to play a solid TAG style, and he multi-tables heavily.

Fabian, 20, is from Stockholm, Sweden. He is studying economics at Stockholm University. He started playing poker four years ago. For the past past 3½ years, poker has been his sole source of income. His main game has always been short handed limit hold'em in the 10/20 to 30/60 range, but three months ago he decided to switch to no limit, and has enjoyed very good results so far playing 0.5/1 to 3/6. He can currently be found playing 2/4 and 3/6 no limit on Party Poker.

Dan, 27, lives in Kent, about 1 hour south of London. He started playing poker in April 2005 and was immediately hooked, though it took him a while to start winning. When he joined CardRunners in April 2006, he immediately made great strides at .25-.50 no-limit, and in the 11 months since then, he has moved up to 2-4. He would say that the main factor in his improvement is definitely the CardRunners community. Both the videos and being active in the forums have been invaluable assets to his development as a player, and without them there is no way he would win.

Dan applies his gambling savvy generally, also playing fruit machines (slots) semi-professionally in combination with poker. He learned to play the machines while at University, and he made his living at them for seven years before he took up poker.

David, 28, lives in New York City. He recently graduated from law school, and he is now working for a hedge fund. You can often find him online at 10-25 and 25-50 heads-up and six-max no-limit games. David plays on all the major sites, and also frequents some of the biggest live games in NYC.

Mike, 21, attends Washington University in St. Louis, where he's majoring in English Literature and Psychology. He intends to play poker professionally after he graduates in the spring of 2008. He has been playing online from the very day he turned 18. Mike first tried NLHE on PartyPoker and had marginal success at best; then he switched to PLO. He ran a $200 deposit into a bankroll big enough to play the $10-20 PLO games, where he was successful until the site closed to American players. After he took a break from poker to study abroad in Australia, he redeposited for $600 in July 2007. He has run it up to a bankroll suitable for heads-up and 6-max $25-50 PLO games on PokerStars. Mike's poker highlights include the day he won 20 buyins at $10-20, and his ongoing heads-up PLO battles with Brian "aba20" Townsend, where he (so far) has managed to come out ahead.

Brian, 28, was one of two students chosen as Taylor Caby's Protégés on CardRunners in September 2006. He quickly moved up from Full Tilt's .5-1 and 1-2 no-limit games to its 5-10 games. In May 2007, Brian started "Pay It Forward." his own protégé program where he selected three students to mentor; they will eventually mentor students of their own.

Brian was a 2-time NCAA All-American for the University of Texas' Track and Field program, and he competed at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials in the 800 meters. He is a six-max NLHE specialist and looks to expand his game to include pot-limit Omaha and heads-up play.

Ian, 22, lives on Mercer Island in Washington. He started playing online about three years ago with sit-and-goes and small-buyin tournaments on UltimateBet. Things went increasingly well, and he eventually decided to skip college for poker. After many hours of study and play at many forms of poker, he became a limit hold'em specialist.

Ian's regular game is now 100-200 limit hold'em, though he plays anywhere from 30-60 to 200-400 online and up to 400-800 live. Ian also follows the live tournament circuit, where he plays small events and satellites to big ones. He won a $3,000 hold'em event at the 2006 WSOP, and he has finished in the top 40 in consecutive Bellagio WPT Main Events.

Phil, 29, lives in London. He is a poker player and freelance journalist who has written for numerous poker publications. He's been playing for over five years and considers himself an all-around player. He plays 5-10 to 25-50 no-limit, 30-60 to 200-400 mixed games, $200 to $2,000 sit-and-goes, major online weekend tournaments, and occasional live tournaments. At CardRunners, he specializes in sit-and-go instruction and HORSE instruction.

Phil's career highlights include a chopped PokerStars Sunday Million (for $75,000), and the night he won the big Sunday $100 rebuy for around $40,000, he also finished second in the weekly HORSE tournament (for $8,000). He has won or chopped almost every PokerStars weekend tourney they offer: these include the $200 pot-limit Omaha, stud-8, and Omaha-8 tournaments. He also won $28,000 when he finished third in a televised tournament in London.

Michael, 23, is currently attending the University of Missouri-Columbia. He plays as "_TheFinisher_" on Bodog in the 5-10 and 10-20 no-limit games. Although he usually plays cash games, you can find him in the major Sunday tournaments and in as many live tournaments as he can enter. Michael is entering his last semester as a Personal Financial Management major, with a minor in Business Management.

Jeff, 18, lives in Minnesota, but plans on moving to San Diego next year to attend college. Despite being 18, he is a very experienced in the online high stakes multi-table tournaments. His biggest cashes include 5th in FTOPS $1k (6max) for $65k and 1st in the PokerStars $150k Guaranteed for $40k. He became the youngest player ever to make a televised final table in June 2007, when he took 3rd in the Turning Stone HPT Main Event, two days after his 18th birthday.

Josh, 24, recently moved to New York City. He has played for a number of years, both online and in Atlantic City. These days he's balancing a job with his poker. He plays tournaments, sit-and-goes, and both limit and no-limit cash games.

Kyle, 22, lives in Athens, Georgia where he is completing a degree in marketing at the University of Georgia. Like many others, he discovered his passion for poker when playing home games with friends in high school. He first started playing online poker in 2004, and has considered poker a source of income since the start of 2006. Kyle has spent many hours studying books, videos, and taking private lessons, and also attributes a lot of his success to countless strategy discussions with mentor Richard Brodie.

Kyle multi-tables short-handed LHE games online, anywhere from $10/20 to $50/100, usually under the name "KPR16." Tournaments have never been a focus for Kyle, but he did cash in his first and only live event, a $1500 WSOP Limit/NL Mixed Event in the summer of 2007.

Len, 23, is from upstate New York, but he recently used poker winnings to buy a house in Cary, NC, where he enjoys the amazing weather and golf. He started playing four years ago in college. He went to a state school in New York for two years before going pro, and he now plays NLHE at stakes ranging from $5-10 to $25-50. Len prefers heads-up games, but he plays 6-max as well.

Jason, 20, is from Manalapan, New Jersey. He turned pro in December of 2006. He currently focuses on tournaments in all formats, at all buyins, and on all the major sites. He also plays six-max and heads-up cash games--mostly 5-10 and 10-20 no-limit--on Full Tilt. Jason is currently ranked 55th on PocketFives.

Isaac, 20, is one of the few big winners online at both high-stakes cash games and tournaments. He regularly plays 50-100 no-limit and higher on Full Tilt, and he enters high-buyin multi-table tournaments on all the major sites. Even though his cash-game play limits his tournament schedule, he is ranked ninth on PocketFives, and he won the PokerStars Sunday Million--without a chop--for over $250,000. He was in school in Santa Barbara, but poker is going so well that he is playing full-time in his new condo in Menlo Park, CA.

Randal, 19, is a professional poker player from Greenville, North Carolina. He plays high buy in MTT's ($100 freeze outs and over, $50 rebuys and over). He has been playing poker for 3 years and online about 2 years. He started off playing $5 tournaments locally with friends in high school. He has always preferred the fun and thrill of tournaments to cash games. Despite being only 19, he has over $150k in live winnings from Turning Stone and Canterbury tournaments. His biggest online wins are the Full Tilt $1k and the UB $200k guaranteed for $46k. His continuing education has taken a back seat to his rapid evolution and success as a full time poker player.

Sam, 24, is a former accountant who quit his job to play poker professionally. He lives in Chicago. He prides himself on his discipline, playing many tables and hours of 10-25 and 25-50 no-limit hold'em on UltimateBet, Full Tilt, and PokerStars.

Ronnie, 19, goes to college in Denver, Colorado but hails from California. He started playing in November of 2006 at $25 NLHE with a bankroll of $500. He grinded strictly 6-max and was playing $10-20 NLHE within a year; he then began to focus on heads-up play. Ronnie is best known as "SilentAssassin3" and is now a regular at $5-10 and $10-20 NLHE.

Derric, 22, can often be found playing 3-6 no-limit on PokerStars as "ActionDJ." He attends UC-Santa Cruz, where he is completing a Business Management Economics major. The former president and the founder of the Santa Cruz Poker Club, Derric took six months off from college to focus on poker, specifically the live games at Lucky Chances Casino. He plays no-limit hold'em for a living, but he also dabbles in pot-limit Omaha, limit hold'em, triple draw, and 5-card draw.

Tom, 48, is a computer engineer and semi-professional poker player who lives in Maryland with his wife and three kids. He is a well-respected poster and mod at 2+2 who plays mid-stakes LHE games online. A long-time duplicate bridge player, he learned poker in 2003 in hopes of becoming a becoming better at reading his opponents. But poker proved even more fascinating and he quickly became hooked.

Jonathan, 21, is a senior at Washington University in St. Louis. He will graduate in May with a degree in finance but focus on poker for the next couple years. He started playing poker in late 2005. He is a very technical, deliberate, math-oriented player. He can normally be found 8 tabling $2-4 NL games on various sites. He is planning on moving up limits in early 2008. When not playing poker, Jonathan is a big sports fan.

Pawel, 28, is math teacher from Athens, Georgia. He started playing NLHE at the $25 NL level in the fall of 2006. He soon found CardRunners and his bankroll grew exponentially over the next year. He plans on playing poker full time in 2008. He is an active poster and blogger who regularly plays between $100 NLHE and $400 NLHE on all the major sites. He emphasizes responsible bankroll management as a key to success.