Congratulations, and more accurately, thanks, to Marc Karam...

This week, I had alot of fun in Niagara. I went down there and watched Marc play alot. We hung out on breaks, I railed him a fair amount while he was playing and talked to other pro players who were standing on the rail. Just a small list of players I had very in depth conversations with during this week : Mike "Timex" McDonald, Jimmy "Gobboboy" Fricke, Jean-Robert Bellande, Joe Sebok, Vivek Rajkumar, and more.

The thing is, I started to realize. I'm not out of place here. I watch Marc play and beleive me I get it, I'm not on Marc Karam's level. But in fairness, who is? :P

But I AM on the level of many players who have made millions playing this game. We had several in depth discussions over hands they had played, or hands they had just seen played etc, and I realized during this timeframe something sort of profound about my poker life.

Grinding sucks ass. I had this discussion with Marco and Frank eating breakfast at 6:00am at Fallsview after Marc's final table. Grinding is fucking hell. Beleive me, I know alot of friends of mine local here, you all admire or envy the fact that the main way I make a living is playing poker online. It's not all it's cracked up to be. I "work" more than any of you. Literally no one I know puts in more hours a week working than me. Not at my job...but at my "career". I pull sometimes 15-16 hours a day, grinding my life away. I'm not UPSET about it, it has it's perks. The money is great, and I don't have a schedule that I need to follow...I work on my own time. It also, however, has negatives. Insane amounts of hours namely.

The way you make a good living playing poker, as we echoed in that conversation, is simply repitition. I earn about 2.5 BB / 100 hands. That's my ratio over thousands upon thousands upon thousands of hands. So how do I make a living playing poker? I play as many sets of 100 hands as I can possibly fathom. That's "professional" poker.

The one thing I realized while I was there this week watching Marc play is a gigantic regret I have. I have NEVER taken a shot. I have NEVER in my life, played a single satalite, to a 10k buyin tournament. Ever.

The biggest "shot" I ever took, was playing a $1500 buyin WSOP event. I did, I think, VERY well there. Granted 182nd out of 3300-someodd players is modestly strong as a result, but given the fact that in 16 hours of poker, I never saw AA, KK, QQ, AK suited. Never flopped a set, never made a flush, never made any real hands that got ANY action whatsoever...I think finishing that strong still is a statement that I can play.

My poker career, frankly I realize now, I've been kind of lazy, I grind and I grind online and live, but I have never tried to position myself to move up another level. It's not even "taking a shot", because the buyins to any satalite can't possibly hurt me.

So, as I said, congratulations are in order to Marc. Cashing 3 straight years at the same 10k buyin event. Making a 5th 10k buyin final table inside 2 and a half years. Again cruising through an insane field...and ultimately only losing out because Glen is the god of flipping coins.

But more importantly, thanks to Marc Karam. Not just for the tickets to the FT, not just for sushi and every other courtesy he extended, but moreso, for the motivation.

After this week, I know Marc said he felt incredibly motivated to play ALOT of live tournaments next year, and that's great news.

I guess maybe slightly less great news, or more great news depending on who you're looking at this from, is the fact that I've been motivated too. I have a new goal...a "New Years Resolution" that is already set in stone before New Years.

I am going to bust my ass to qualify for some 10k buyin tournaments next year. It is my entire goal in poker for next year to play at least one major buyin tournament in the year 2009.

So thanks Marc, for the motivation to try and advance my poker career forward.