Capture the Flag: Rui Cao

French poker pro Rui Cao is one of pot-limit Omaha’s rising stars. The 24-year-old received his training in competitive videos games at a young age, learning how to react quickly while also thinking deeply into a situation.

Despite his young age, Cao is dedicated to beating the upper-middle stakes cash games online, and he has backed up the desire with about $160,000 in profits so far in 2011. However, the former computer science and finance student didn’t want to be a full-time poker player at first.

“I changed my mind when the money I was winning got significant,” Cao said. “It’s actually really hard to balance school and poker. I would probably focus on my studies unless I’m sure that I want to play poker for the next few years, and that I can do it without any financial risks.”

Cao said preparation is necessary in order to be fully focused and capable of playing his A-game. In order to get ready for some of his intense matches on Full Tilt Poker, Cao reviews all his previous sessions and tries to exercise at least twice a week to clear his head.

Card Player caught up with the Frenchman to talk about his start in poker, as well as what kind of advice he has for beginning players trying to succeed in cash games.

Brian Pempus: How did you get started in poker? What first brought you to the game? Can you describe your progression up the stakes? Why did you settle at your current stakes?

Rui Cao: I started playing poker with a few friends in June 2006. Before that, I used to play a lot of video games. I’ve been very interested in poker since the beginning because it’s very similar to video games, as you need the same competitive mindset to improve, and you have to be very analytical about every situation and be able to deal with defeat.

From June 2006 to September 2007, I wasn’t able to play much because college was taking all my time. But in September 2007, I finally had more time to dedicate myself to poker. I deposited $50 under my screen name “Gohanounet” and moved up pretty quickly. Three months later, I was playing $5$-$10 no-limit hold’em. In 2008, I played even more; both live and online, while starting to play a few tournaments. At the end of the year, I joined Team Limpers, a group of French high stakes players, which helped me a lot in my learning process. In 2009, I wanted to try pot-limit Omaha, and it went very well. Since then, it has been my main game, with some no-limit hold’em, especially live, mixed in. Now, I mostly play pot-limit Omaha from $25-$50 to $100-$200 and sometimes higher when the games are really good. However, the games aren’t running very often nowadays, so it’s really hard to move up to $200-$400 and beyond.

BP: How should a player determine when he or she is ready to move up in stakes?

RC: When a player is confident enough in his game and prepared for the bigger swings, he should be ready to move up. The next most important thing is to be able to move down in stakes, which is usually harder.

BP: Can you give some basic pot-limit Omaha strategy for beginning players? What are some of the key differences in strategy between no-limit hold’em and pot-limit Omaha?

RC: The number one mistake for beginning players is to play too loose, as the hands preflop run so close in equity compared to no-limit, and that makes it is easy to think that you can play more hands. But, actually it is almost more important to have good hand selection in pot-limit Omaha than in no-limit hold’em because hands can be easily dominated.

Playability is really the key to preflop selection; I’d rather have 4-5-6-7 than A-K-6-3 for instance. Playing aggressive with draws is also part of a basic winning Omaha strategy, because it’s generally the easiest and most profitable way to play them since big draws in the game are so powerful. Having draws to the nuts is also really important because draw versus draw happens pretty often and having the best draw gives you a huge equity edge. Also if you are a beginning pot-limit Omaha player, you should rarely be stone-cold bluffing like you used to do in hold’em because hands have so much more equity in general, thus giving you a larger semi-bluffing range.

BP: Who have been your toughest opponents and why? What are your thoughts on game selection?

RC: I would say Phil Galfond, Scott Palmer, Ben Tollerene and Alexy Makarov are my toughest opponents because they are all able to adjust very well to their opponents. High stakes heads-up games are all about your ability to make constant adjustments. The best poker players in the world can all adjust really fast and take advantage of their opponents’ leaks.

Game selection is vital in order to survive, but you have to play better players to improve your game. If you only play with weaker players, you can’t become a better player. You have to pay to improve, and how much you pay depends of your learning skills.

BP: How do you deal with the variance in poker? Should players always buy in at a cash game table for the maximum? What is your opinion about buying in short for cash games?

RC: Variance is part of the game of poker and dealing with it is a poker player’s everyday problem. I try to play the right stakes where I can’t lose more than I can afford, but it will always hurt to have a big losing session. A poker player shouldn’t think about it, and playing in a game where he’s a favorite will always overcome the variance in the long run.

Playing deep requires different skills than playing short. A player should always buy in for the amount he’s comfortable with. I almost never buy in short for cash games because I like playing deep where you have more decisions post flop, but playing short in a game where most people are deep is very profitable, as you can take advantage of other players’ looseness. That changes the dynamic of a table, and I think it’s really unfair that a player can buy in short.

BP: What advice would you give to players who have made the decision to play professionally but are having a hard time dealing with the downswings?

RC: To become a professional poker player, you have to deal with downswings. Everyone will face downswings that are going to get bigger and bigger as you move up the stakes. Players who are having a hard time dealing with it should play lower stakes than they are actually playing. If losing 30 percent of their bankroll will hurt too much, play in stakes where you will rarely lose 15 percent of your bankroll.

BP: Can you talk about “mixing” different games in a session? What advice would you give for beginning players who are tempted to open up a variety of disciplines? Should they focus only on one game at a time?

RC: I’m mainly a pot-limit Omaha player, but I started poker playing hold’em and still play it quite often. With that said, I don’t think it’s a good idea to mix different games in a session, as focusing on different games at the same time is really hard in my opinion. However, trying to learn different games is a good way to become a better overall player, even for your main game because facing some totally new situations will help your thought processes.

BP: What is your poker schedule like? What advice would you give for players who want to play poker full time and are having difficulty in finding a comfortable playing schedule? What other hobbies or interests do you have outside of poker that you try to fit into your schedule? What are your plans for the future in cash games?

RC: I don’t really have a poker schedule. My playing hours vary a lot, as I sometimes play from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and sometimes from 4 a.m. to 6 a.m. What is good about being a professional poker player is the freedom. I don’t really like having a playing schedule because I only play whenever I want. A poker player will always play better when he doesn’t force himself to play because it’s in his playing schedule.

I like traveling, hanging out with friends, sports cars, and watching movies. My plans are to improve myself and work hard to play high stakes online cash games as long as possible. I also plan to play more live high stakes cash games, which I really enjoy.