Cary Steven Katz (born January 29, 1970) is an American businessman and poker player.

Career

Katz graduated from

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

with a bachelor's degree in Business Administration. In 1999, he founded the College Loan Corporation, where he was CEO for 15 years. The company was the seventh largest student loan company in the United States providing $19 billion in loans. Katz started the conservative media website CRTV in 2014. In October 2015, Katz founded the website

Poker Central Poker Central is a website and service which focuses on poker news, events, live streaming and hosting poker content. It operates PokerGO an online paid subscription channel and streaming service which features multiple poker shows, cash games and ...

which launched subscription-based streaming service

PokerGO PokerGO is an over-the-top content platform based in Las Vegas, Nevada. PokerGO was launched in 2017 as a subscription-based streaming service offering poker centric online streaming. The content offered on PokerGO includes poker tournaments, ...

. Katz also created high roller tournaments including Super High Roller Bowl,

Poker Masters The Poker Masters is a series of high-stakes poker tournaments. Created in 2017, it takes place at ARIA Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, and online at partypoker. Final tables are streamed on PokerGO, and the player who accumulates the m ...

, and the U.S. Poker Open. Katz has also been accredited with inventing the big blind ante, which is now the preferred option in

poker tournament A poker tournament is a tournament where players compete by playing poker. It can feature as few as two players playing on a single table (called a "heads up poker, heads-up" tournament), and as many as tens of thousands of players playing on th ...

structures worldwide. He currently serves as president of the St. Gabriel Catholic School and as chairman of the non-profit organization Stop Child Predators. Katz is married to Jackie Katz and they have six children together and currently reside in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Poker

Katz learned poker from his grandmother and began playing live tournaments competitively in 2004. In August 2005, Katz finished 21st in the $5,000 WPT Legends of Poker Main Event earning $20,850. In 2009, Katz finished 159th in the

2009 World Series of Poker The 2009 World Series of Poker was the 40th annual World Series of Poker (WSOP). It was held at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, and ran from May 27 to July 15. There were 57 bracelet events, culminating in the $10,000 No- ...

Main Event earning $40,288. In January 2013, Katz entered the

PokerStars Caribbean Adventure The PokerStars Caribbean Adventure was an annual televised poker tournament. The event was first held in 2004 and was originally co-sponsored by PokerStars and the World Poker Tour. In 2008, the event moved from the WPT to the European Poker Tour. ...

$100,000 high roller event finishing 4th for $543,800. Later that year he finished runner up to

Davidi Kitai Davidi Kitai (born 28 September 1979) is a Belgian professional poker player who won the 2008 World Series of Poker $2,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em event for $244,583, becoming the first Belgian to win a WSOP bracelet. He also has won 2 other bracelet ...

at the

2013 World Series of Poker The 2013 World Series of Poker was the 44th annual World Series of Poker (WSOP). It was held at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Paradise, Nevada between May 29 – July 15, 2013. There was 62 bracelet events, culminating in the $10,000 No Li ...

$5,000 Pot Limit Hold'em event. In 2014, Katz played in $1,000,000

Big One for One Drop The Big One for One Drop is a $1,000,000 buy-in No Limit Texas hold 'em tournament hosted at the World Series of Poker (WSOP). Added in 2012, it became the highest buy-in poker tournament in history as well as the largest single payout offered. T ...

where he finished 8th earning $1,306,667. The tournament had a memorable hand where Katz's cracked Connor Drinan's after both were all in pre-flop. The board ran out giving Katz an ace-high flush. Katz plays in Las Vegas high roller events hosted at the Aria Casino. In January 2018, Cary Katz won his first major poker tournament, placing first in a field of 48 entries to win the PCA Super High Roller and earning $1,492,340. In September 2019, Katz won Super High Roller Bowl London. Katz defeated Ali Imsirovic heads-up to earn £2,100,000. In February 2020, Katz finished third in Super High Roller Bowl Australia for AU$640,000. In July 2021, Katz won the 2021 PokerGO Cup Main Event for $1,058,000. As of July 2021, Katz has cashed for over $32,800,000 in live poker tournaments.

Ownership of CRTV and related lawsuits

Katz' ownership of CRTV has embroiled him in numerous lawsuits. He sued CRTV over alleged non-payment of a $20 million loan.

References

External links

*
Cary Katz Hendon Mob profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Katz, Cary American poker players Living people 1970 births University of Georgia alumni