Heads-Up With Isaac 'westmenlo' Baron
Aaron Bean: "Menlo is one of the biggest winners online despite playing less than a third as often as his peers.
Kevin "BeL0WaB0VE" Saul: "There may be only a handful of tournament players who play as perfect or close to perfect as Menlo does. This guy plays a very low volume of tournaments because of his recent transition to the nosebleed cash games (which I understand he does very well in), yet he still is ranked in the topp ten on PocketFives. When he plays, all he does is win."
Di “Urindanger” Dang: “Isaac has loose-aggressive play mastered in cash games. Add that in with his great handreading ability, and you have one of the best players in the world.”
When you ask any successful online player about Isaac “westmenlo” Baron, you will undoubtedly get responses just like these. His ability to change gears, and to play both tournaments and cash games in very different ways, have gained him the respect of his peers and made him one of the most feared players in online poker…
BLUFF: Tell us a little bit about yourself to begin…
Isaac Baron: Well, I was born in 1987 and I live in Menlo Park, CA. I attended the University of Oregon and transferred to Santa Barbara City after one year. I found out about poker simply from messing around with some friends in home games and realizing how much I liked it. I bought my first book, and shortly after I began playing more online and doing well with that.
BLUFF: What was the book you bought?
IB: Ha ha, I am embarrassed to say it, but it was Play Poker Like the Pros by Phil Hellmuth.
BLUFF: How did your parents react to you deciding to pursue this as a career?
IB: Well, my mom has always been supportive of whatever I do and she likes poker; she watches it on TV and follows her favorite players and stuff. My dad is a professor at Yale, so he was a lot slower to come along. He is not a gambler at all and at first was highly against it; but when he saw the money that I was making and realized that I had been winning consistently for years, he recognized that it is not all luck like he first thought. He is a very smart person, so he figured it out.
BLUFF: So what was your first online deposit? How long did it take you to build up a bankroll?
IB: I never really deposited. A friend of mine who was 18 (I was underage at the time) put 50 bucks on Stars and ran it up to like 300, and he said it was a lot of fun and he sent me 20 bucks. I played the small sitn- gos and small cash games and didn’t have much success. We did this several times and I could never really run the money up like I wanted to. Eventually I got better by playing at a local Indian casino and started to win online. I decided to put $2,000 online and take it seriously, and quickly built that up and have never deposited again.
BLUFF: When you first began playing, was your primary focus on tournaments?
IB: To be honest I wasn’t like most people I just kind of played what I felt like. I just went day to day: Sometimes I would play only sit-n-gos, sometimes I would play tournaments, sometimes cash, and sometimes all three. It was completely random now that I think about it
BLUFF: Do you remember a moment when you realized you could be one of the top players?
IB: I always knew that I could be very good. I was always a winning player once I took it seriously, but I can’t recall that exact moment where I realized I could be one of the best. I guess a big turning point, though, was definitely when I qualified for PCA through FPPs (Frequent Player Points on PokerStars). I played with all the pros I had seen on TV and I didn’t feel overmatched at all. That was definitely a big confidence builder.
BLUFF: So, you started off grinding various sorts of games? What was your first big win?
IB: I won the $100 Rebuy on PokerStars for $12,000 when I probably didn’t have the bankroll to be playing that tournament. It was a big win because I beat out a lot of really highly rated online players at the final table, so it was a really big win for me because it boosted my BR a lot and also boosted my confidence a lot.
BLUFF: Was there any player you talked to a lot when you were building your bankroll who really influenced your game? How much do you attribute online communities and forums to your success?
IB: Honestly, there really isn’t. I only really started posting on forums and talking to other good online players after I had already had a decent amount of success. There are certainly players who I talk with now who have helped me better my game. But when I came up, it was pretty much all me. I read a few books and played a lot and just pretty much figured stuff out on my own.
BLUFF: Being both a cash and a tournament player, do you prefer one to the other? Which has contributed most to your bankroll?
IB: I prefer cash for sure. I feel like it is so much more pure as a form of poker and it is also so much better for leading a normal life. You can quit when you want and play when you want. I have definitely made more playing cash.
BLUFF: There is a lot of argument between cash and tournament players about the skill of the game and the competition. Playing high stakes in both arenas, where do you feel the competition is most difficult? What are the big differences you notice?
IB: Well, I feel like the competition is very tough in both; the high stakes cash pros are very good at cash and the high stakes tourney pros are very good at tourneys. But I think in terms of overall poker playing that cash players are far superior, and it would be much easier for a great cash player to become a great tourney player than vice versa. Some big differences I notice are cash players are far better at reading hands and tournament players are far better at noticing good situations in tournaments to make plays and tournament strategy stuff, but the tournament strategy is much easier to become good at than the cash.
BLUFF: When did you make the transition to nosebleed stakes cash games? Where do you usually play and what stakes are you most comfortable at?
IB: Well, I’ve been playing $25/$50 for a couple of years, and have done well. When I had built a big enough bankroll or was on a heater I would take shots at bigger games that I felt were softer. I started having success taking the shots, and my bankroll kept growing through both cash and tournament wins, and I just kind of made a gradual climb through the limits. Right now I am very comfortable playing $200/$400 No Limit and lower, and maybe $300/$600 if it is a very soft game.
BLUFF: What is your biggest daily win? Loss? Biggest tournament win?
IB: Actually I just had my biggest win a couple weeks ago. I won $400,000 in about two hours. My biggest loss is probably about $200,000 in one day. My biggest tournament win would be when I won the PokerStars Sunday Million for $225,000.
BLUFF: Who do you feel are the best highstakes No Limit players right now?
IB: Brian Townsend (sbrugby), Patrik Antonius, Tom “durrrr” Dwan (when he is on his game he might be the best, but he can be all over the place other times) and last, but def not least, one of the most underrated players and perhaps the best pure No Limit player in my opinion, “Genius28.”
BLUFF: How about the best online tournament player? Who should we look out for in upcoming years?
IB: Well, I think Jeff “ActionJeff” Garza is the best without a doubt in online tournaments, but he has to be taking it seriously to be on that level. Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi and Josh “JJProdigy” Field are two others who come to mind.
BLUFF: Have you ever been staked to play cash or tournaments? Do you stake other players? What is your feeling on that?
IB: I’ve never been staked in tournaments and it’s very seldom that I sold action of myself when I was taking a really big shot or something, but I have never been out-andout staked. I have staked other players without much success. I have recently realized that it is not for me.
BLUFF: Do you have days in the week you take off? Do you wake up and see how you feel? When do you normally wake up and what kind of routine do you have before you decide to start playing?
IB: I’m all by feel. The only day when I know for sure that I will play is Sunday for all the tournaments.
BLUFF: Do you have any specific poker goals for yourself in the upcoming year? What are your plans once you turn 21?
IB: I don’t have any written list of goals or anything like that, but I would really like to do some damage in the live tournament scene at least a final table or two of a couple big events.
