Episode 33: Taylor Caby

12 thoughts on “Episode 33: Taylor Caby”

1. Andrew you used metaphor or comparison of ram vs short-time memory.
   I know that the brain-computer metaphors are very useful in psychology.
   I know that educated people use this particular metaphor to conceptualize a mechanics of human memory.
   I have problem to digest such comparison.
   By definition RAM is memory that could to be accessed in RANDOM order.
   Let’s forget about short-time memory but overall human memory uses CONTENT-addressable memory.
   My problem: By definition I see striking difference rather that similarities.

   • By the way I loved the podcast because of the content.
     The mix of poker and exit strategy – so called diversification strategy.
     Good questions and honest responses.

   • Yeah this is what happens when I talk out of my ass about subjects I don’t really understand 🙂 Thanks for the clarification!

     • When I wrote that educated people use this particular metaphor I meant coaches, psychologist, spiritual gurus.
       I am sure you can find some common attributes.
       RAM could be a bottleneck for computer performance.
       Short-term memory is a huge bottleneck for brain performance in solving complex problems

2. Don’t do everything at the same time. I’ll keep that in mind. 🙂

3. I was struck by how he said one factor in poker success is luck.
   You don’t often hear super successful pro’s say that.
   He didn’t so much say this, but the more I learn about variance the sicker I think the game of poker is 🙂

   And he had some wise words about online poker.
   IMO I don’t see how it can last more then 10 years (anywhere near the extent it is now).
   Just like he said, I think people need to fear computer programmes etc…

4. Great job guys. I wish you had ore time with Taylor. Lest your audience think poker players are unique in their ignorance of personal finance, I submit many successful individuals from almost any career have that same ignorance.

   • I wish so too! Maybe we’ll try to have him on again some time…

5. I’m a little late in listening to and posting a comment on this episode, so I’m not sure if any information I give will seen by anyone who will find it of any use.

   There was mention of what to do if a poker player doesn’t have a degree and wants to get a “real” job of some sort. Just like an ABC player will fold a single pair hand to a large river bet without a second thought, human resource departments will not give your resume a second thought without the required degrees. If anyone wants a quick degree from an accredited university I would recommend they check out the site BA in 4 Weeks (http://www.bain4weeks.com/). Basically there are 3 accredited universities that will allow you to test out for each required credit through either a CLEP, DANTES, or ECA test (I don’t remember the names other than Excelsior, I would say check out that site). Depending on the degree you would need somewhere around 30 credits, and each CLEP test cost around $100-$150. When I was looking into doing this 2 years ago I think I had a shot at doing this in 4 weeks except one of the english credits required giving an essay type response that people found really hard. Since my writing skill are horrible for that one credit I would probably would have to enroll in some kind of community college course. I don’t remember the break down but when I figured the total cost for me would be somewhere around $6000 plus whatever the community college coarse cost (enrollment fee, CLEP tests, and graduation fee). There’s even a way to get a masters degree totally through testing out, but the total costs are somewhere in the $15K-$20K range, and will take significantly longer than 4 weeks (like a year or two).

   I’m not an expert by any means, and I’m not saying that site’s plans are foolproof. I just wanted to give an idea of where to start researching if you wanted something like that. I highly encourage you to use your smart analytical poker trained mind to do your own research and come up with your own plan if you want to do something like this. I may decide to do something like this in the future, and if I do I’ll post in the 2+2 forums and treat it like a bankroll challenge or something.

   • Thanks for the comment, JD. Something like this might work if your degree is literally just a box that needs to be checked off on an application. I didn’t look at it for more than a minute or so, but my first impression of that website you linked was not good. It sounds too good to be true to me…

     • When Taylor was asked for advice for someone who is young and hasn’t been in the work force without a degree he hit the nail on the head when he said “I don’t know, find religion” (or something to that effect). Unfortunately people who make hiring decisions tend to be robotic and risk adverse nits. If you can’t “check the box” then your application goes in the trash. With today’s job market I can’t really blame them either. And even if you do get in the door your likelihood of advancement will be severely hamstrung no matter what level of competence you display at the actual work. Sad but true.

       As far as it sounding too good to be true, I can say 100% it is true. Almost (if not all) accredited colleges and universities in the US will let you “CLEP out” as they say of some credits, but there are 3 that will let you CLEP out of all credits required for certain degrees. Just Google CLEP, you’ll see its a real thing.

       As far as the website, yes it does look like the template online pharmacies used 10 years ago. But they aren’t trying to sell anything. They basically give you a potential paths to follow. They say “if you want X degree from Y university, then you need to take these CLEP test, and if you buy these books and study them you should be able to pass those test”. I don’t think the site has been updated in at least 3 years, so the requirements and tests may have changed. That’s why I recommended as a starting point. But the information it gives is gold.

       I don’t know if this is a good path for the average person, but for the average winning poker player I think it is. The same skill set that allow them to beat the games will allow them to absorb the information required to pass the CLEP test with self study. Plus its a lot cheaper and faster than a 2 or 4 year college run. Sure you miss out on the whole “college experience”, but if you really wanted to you could do keg stands in your own home.

6. I just relistened to the first half of this, and I loved the discussion of learning at and away from the table. A couple of thoughts:

   – I think that the way in which we can only ever see one hand from villain’s range (if that) and the impact that that has on how we learn from actual play is really fundamental. Poker players might be the least results oriented people out there, and yet we’re still really results oriented – you can see it in forum discussion, poker videos, any number of places. One place where I think this is really problematic is in the discussion you had the previous week with Jared Tendlar about when/if to trust your unconscious ‘feeling’-type instincts. As far as i can see it’s just a minefield of potential cognitive bias, and so my inclination would be to simply throw out anything non-concrete.

   – I don’t play tournaments, and I couldn’t care less about celebrity poker, but I am fascinated by the case of Phil Hellmuth and his unorthodox style. If he’s doing something special which counter balances the seemingly obvious errors he makes in pushbot spots, is it something independent of those errors (and in which case, why don’t other people learn how to do that as well as pushbotting well?) or is it something that is inextricably entangled with those errors (and if so, how?).

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