WSOP November Nine Profile -- Joseph Cada21-year-old Michigan Pro Enters Final Table in Fifth Place |
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All eyes were on the youngest main-event champion in history.
Just a year removed from his historic win — where he edged past Phil Hellmuth to become the youngest player to ever win poker’s most prestigious title — Peter Eastgate was making an incredible run to contend for what could have been his second consecutive world championship.
With fewer than a hundred players remaining from an original field of 6,494 at the World Series of Poker, Eastgate was poised to do the unthinkable. In his journey deep into the 2009 WSOP main event, the reigning world champ played several hours with another talented young pro, Joe Cada, who didn’t shy away from engaging in a little playful trash talk with the champ.
“I happened to be at his table on day 4 and day 5, and I was joking around with him about it — how I have a shot at breaking his record,” said Cada, who at 21 could supplant Eastgate of his record just a year after he established his mark. “It would be pretty amazing if I did.”
While Eastgate’s 2009 main-event performance fell shy of a return trip to the November Nine (he got knocked out in 78th place), Cada’s magical run has yet to conclude. With 13.215 million in chips, he enters November’s final table in fifth place.
Cada told Card Player that he just made sure he never lost focus in those late stages of the tournament.
Watch Cada on Card Player TV’s ‘All Inbox’:
Cada’s startling and rapid ascension to the top of the poker world is nothing short of remarkable.
Although he’s only been legally allowed to play in poker rooms in Las Vegas for a few months now, Cada’s game and his attitude exude both confidence and experience.
“When I was younger, I played a lot of poker and grinded a lot,” said Cada. “I haven’t played as much this year.”
The more lenient schedule doesn’t seem to have hurt his results. While he wasn’t too well known in the poker community before his main-event run, Cada has collected a number of impressive scores online while playing under the name “jcada99”.
Cada won Full Tilt’s $750,000 guarantee in January 2008 for $147,488, and followed it up with a win in the Full Tilt Sunday Mulligan for $49,590 last October.
He has seven tournament cashes of at least five figures online in his career, according to Cada’s Card Player profile page.
Still, he considers himself a cash-game player rather than a tournament specialist.
“I’m primarily a cash-game, heads-up player, but I play tournaments on Sunday,” said Cada.
The young pro first started playing the game in high school, while he juggled two different jobs. He admits school never quite held his attention.
“In high school, I was a ‘B’ student. I didn’t really do much homework, but I was always a good test taker,” said Cada. “I went to community college nearby and took a few classes … because my mom wanted me to.”
But having already established himself as a full-time online poker player, Cada eventually decided to “put school on hold for a while.”
“I discussed it with my parents. They understand. They know I’m smart, and they let me learn from my own mistakes,” said Cada.
Of course, few people would consider Cada’s decision a mistake now. Guaranteed to win at least $1.26 million for the 2009 main event, he has a great shot at the $8.5 million first-place prize.
Whether or not he does win in November, Cada plans on using some of those winnings — as well as some of those business classes — in the future.
“I want to start up a nice bar, but I need to do some research on it first,” he said.
The way Cada has been going, don’t be surprised to see that research pay off in a big way.
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