Our Verdict:
"I think westmenloAA has more money than Tiger Woods now." That's what one poster said in a PocketFives.com thread that discussed westmenloAA's accomplishments. While it may not be true that he's richer than the world's best golfer, the Californian has certainly caused a stir with his online exploits.
Not be confused with Richie Menlo - they both come from Menlo Park in California - westmenloAA won the PokerStars Sunday Million on the last weekend in January 2007 to claim a first prize of $254,517.60. But if that win put him on the map closer observers had already noted his extraordinary penchant for winning. He has cleaned up across several sites, adding a further $100k to his bankroll on PokerStars alone in 4 months at the start of '07. Aside from his Sunday Million win, westmenloAA has bagged three first prizes of more than $20,000, two of them for winning $100 buy-ins tourneys.
WestmenloAA - whose real name is Isaac Baron - also plays online under the nicknames "mr.menlo", "BossMenlo" and "mjorgenson13". His live tournament winnings currently total $1,073,480 which includes 3 WPT Cashes (the biggest at the North American Championships in October '06 for $55,756). But in April '08 he travelled to Italy for the EPT San Remo and came in 11th for $45,421 to further expand his fearsome reputation. Isaac then travelled to Monte Carlo for the EPT Grand Final, where he held the chip lead at one point before bombing out in 4th for an impressive €589,000 payday.
Back in cyberspace 'The Guru' Baron took down Event #1 of the FTOPS VIII in May 2008. In a $200 buy-in NLH 6-max event, he fought off over 4,000 competitors to scoop a first prize of over $158,000. When you take into account that he was up over $780,000 on PokerStars and $350,000 on Full Tilt before the tournament began, its clear that Baron is one of the best online and live players in the world.