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Sports of All Sorts

Basketball school? UI's a poker school

Posted by: Tony Bleill

Wednesday, February 18, 2009 5:22 PM

You probably know the story of poker pro and UI graduate Barry Greenstein, the so-called "Robin Hood of Poker" who donates some of his poker winnings to children's charities. Now there's another rising star in the world of high stakes poker who has ties to the UI.

Taylor Caby, a 25-year-old from Chicago and UI graduate in finance, is on national TV this week as part of NBC's "Poker After Dark." The show, which airs at 1 a.m., features six players. This week's shows -- the session began Monday night and concludes Friday night, with a Saturday recap show -- features three Internet-based players like Caby, who made his fortune playing online poker about five years ago. They're playing alongside three "bricks-and-mortar" legends in Eli Elezra, Gabe Kaplan and the famed Doyle Brunson. The six are playing a cash game; in other words, each player is using his own money with the idea of building as a big a stack as possible. Unlike much televised poker, this week's session is not a tournament. (If you're watching, Caby bought into the game for $125,000. After Tuesday night's show, Caby was down to about $80,000.)

According to the show, Caby gained his poker fame through online play. He lost his first $50 deposit while playing online, then turned his next $35 deposit into "more than six figures."