20-year-old poker pro wins acclaim of peers in addition to prestigious award.
CardRunners.com, the leading poker instructional website, is proud to confirm that Isaac "Menlo" Baron has finished 2007 atop the CardPlayer Online Player of the Year rankings. Baron is a lead instructor for CardRunners, alongside Brian Townsend, Taylor Caby, Ryan Daut, Brian "Stinger" Hastings, and Eric "p3achy_keen" Liu. Together, they produce the downloadable strategy videos that have made the site the class of the industry.
Baron, known as "WestMenloAA" on PokerStars and "mjorgenson13" on Full Tilt Poker, had perhaps the finest year in the history of online poker. His #1 ranking was achieved by earning over $1 million from online tournaments alone. This includes first-place finishes in the PokerStars Sunday Million, for $250,000, and Full Tilt Poker"s Sunday $750K Guaranteed, for $150,000.
Isaac"s 2007 scoresheet could be the highlight reel of other pros" entire careers. It includes 15 scores of over $25,000, of which seven were for more than $45,000. Most impressive of all is Baron"s versatility. Most poker players specialize in either cash game or tournament play, but Baron is world-class in both: He tacked on over a million dollars in cash game winnings in 2007.
This skill and versatility did not go unnoticed in the industry. Baron finished second in a close race in the PocketFives.com 2007 Tournament Leader Board, and he was voted #1 in that site"s "Pro Poll." In that poll, the best online players are ranked according to votes from their peers: It"s like the balloting for baseball"s Hall of Fame or for the Oscars, but in poker the voters are the players themselves. Baron"s incredible 2007 also earned him a spot in Bluff Magazine"s Top 10 Online Players of the Year.
To date, Baron has produced six videos for CardRunners subscribers. Each is roughly an hour long and covers the elements of successful tournament strategy. Baron credits CardRunners with much of his development as a player:
"When I was starting out, I played a ton and I tried all sorts of strategies. I thought about the game endlessly, and I read pretty much anything I could get my hands on. [CardRunners co-founder and instructor] Taylor "Green Plastic" Caby"s videos were probably the most instrumental resource I used to develop my cash-game skills," said Baron.
"2007 was a great year," added Baron. "All the effort that I put into poker in the past really paid off, and it feels great."
Baron also offered CardRunners subscribers a glimpse of what to expect in 2008:
"I would certainly be open to making cash-game videos. However, in the immediate future, expect more tournament videos."
