Rui “Rui Cao” Cao is one of the newest players that’s been grabbing headlines in the high stakes cash game scene. Cao is primarily a Pot-Limit Omaha specialist who can be found at Full Tilt Poker.
As far as Cao’s backstory goes, he spent the early part of his life in China, before moving to Paris when he was seven years old. Cao was a late poker bloomer since he wasn’t introduced to the game until 2006, when he started playing home games with friends. However, he wasn’t able to put a lot of hours into poker because of his college workload.
But towards the end of 2007, the finance major was finally able to put more time into the matter after he deposited $50 under the account name “Gohanounet.” Cao benefited quite a bit from poker coaching at CardRunners, and he eventually started playing $5/$10 NLHE.
In 2008, Cao started venturing into the live poker world, where he earned his first tournament cash (647th place, $21,230) in the 2008 WSOP Main Event. Since then, Cao has managed to cash for $161k within several different tournament organizations including the WPT, ETP, WSOP and FPT. However, none of his cashes have really been significant; a 5th place side event finish (€29,495) at the 2009 Hold’em Series in Paris is his largest cash to date.
Most of Cao’s fame has come through online poker, where he’s tangled with some of the top pros in Pot-Limit Omaha. He also joined Full Tilt Poker in 2010 as a Team Limpers instructor, and has had plenty of success coaching other players.