Look Out: Michael Katz

Michael Katz is a 27-year-old poker professional who lives in San Diego, California. He got his start playing poker while attending Towson University in Maryland. He played in small games with friends and then started to go to Atlantic City on weekends to play in live cash games.

After he graduated, Katz decided to see what could happen with poker, and he moved to Vegas, passing on a couple of job opportunities that came his way as a result of his business management/finance degree.

During the first three years of his poker career, he played in a lot more cash games than tournaments, but now, he plays in more tournaments. The decision to switch came after watching friends like Eric Baldwin and Adam Geyer achieve success, so he was encouraged to follow in their footsteps and play more tournaments.

Katz has racked up $1,206,439 in career tournament earnings since 2006, when he scored his first cash in a $1,000 no-limit hold’em event at the World Series of Poker. He got his first tournament victory in a $2,000 no-limit hold’em event at the Five-Diamond World Poker Classic that was good for $132,980. His largest score online came when he won a Spring Championship of Online Poker $100 no-limit hold’em rebuy tournament, for $103,856. The most impressive thing about Katz’s tournament success is the consistency with which he cashes. His career earnings are spread out over 86 cashes.

The events of Black Friday have made it a little tougher for the professional to find tournaments. “It’s weird not to have tournaments on Sundays, but other than that, I can play at Commerce Casino,” said Katz, who is currently turning his attention to the World Series of Poker. “I’m hoping to win a bracelet this year. I would like to win a WPT or a World Series bracelet. As long as I can keep cashing steadily in tournaments, I know that my game will improve.” The closest that Katz has come to winning a gold bracelet is a sixth-place finish in the $3,000 triple-chance no-limit hold’em event in 2009.

Katz is also a big sports fan, and enjoys the fact that traveling the tournament trail gives him the ability to attend sporting events all around the country. “I like to go to games while I’m at tournaments,” said Katz. He wants to plan an NFL trip next fall that will involve renting an RV and hitting a bunch of different stadiums with some friends in the poker world.

He plans to keep playing poker for the time being, and will continue to play in the $10-$20 and $20-$40 no-limit hold’em games at Commerce Casino. His future plans in poker involve incorporating pot-limit Omaha into his repertoire. His future plans in life involve opening a business with his poker bankroll. “I don’t see myself being a career poker player. I’m hoping to start a business at some point. I’ve always wanted to own a sports bar. A couple of my friends have talked about opening something like that together.” ♠