New Interview Series: Marc Alioto

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In the first installment of my new weekly interview series I will be interviewing Lock Pro Marc "AznAllin007" Alioto.  I will be asking some poker-related and non poker-related questions so that the readers can get to know Marc on and off the tables.  

1. How did you get started in poker?  How old were you?  What did you play?  How did you progress through the stakes and different games?

I started at an early age with games.  First it was gin rummy with my grandfather and than i joined the chess team at my middle school.  I really enjoyed anything competitive, and that led me to also play magic the gathering when i wasnt playing sports.  Games were basically somehting to do when i wasnt playing a sport.  Poker started in college.  I was a huge sports gambler and than Moneymaker hit espn.  Immediately my roomies and I were playing small home games.  After I bombed out of school, I came back home to work for my family business.  I started to dump my paychecks onto stars and the losing began.  I sucked my first couple of years of online poker.  At around 23, i was pretty much clueless to bankroll management and variance.  I would deposit 60 bucks and run it up to 500 only to spew it off in 2-4 cash games.  I ended up luckboxing my way into the PCA and met some really cool guys that influenced my career tremendously.  Just being in the bahamas made me realize poker was what i wanted to do with my life.  I than started out with like a thousand bucks playing 30 dollar 9 men non turbos and slowly moving into 50 dollar dons when they were introduced at Pokerstars.

2. How have you gone about improving over the years?  Have you watched a lot of training videos?  Have you read a lot of books?  Have you done a lot of calculations?  Have you talked strategy with a lot of other players?

I'm not one of these guys that deposited 50 dollars and is now worth millions. LMFAO, must be nice.  I have read over 30 poker books, all of harringtons, colin moshmans and of course Doyles super system to name a few.  I have watched thousands of training videos for mtts and a handful for sitngoes.  Kind of stupid to watch way more mtt vids, but that was the game I have always been frustrated about. 

I have a really "old school" approach to how i handle my poker game.  I write every single session down on paper.  Anything from results to misplayed hands are all on these sheets.  I have discussed tons of cash game and mtt game strategy with my friends, but very little sitngo strategy.  THIS IS HORRIBLE TO SAY, but it is the truth.  I usually really dont like people im playing against and kind of think its stupid to discuss strategy with people I am going to be grinding with 24/7.  Its not hate or anything, its just they are trying to take my money and I find it hard to take a liking to that.  I wish I had more friends that grinded sit'n goes when I was coming up on Stars cause I know I would have got a lot better at a faster pace.

3. How many tables do you play?

As far as volume, I play roughly 80 games a day.  I will play as many as 16 tables at a time when I can get Lock sit'ngoes to run, but usually im running 4-8.  I use Holdemanager and have been experimenting with merge hot keys.  I used table ninja on stars and found that to be of enormous help.  The problem with adding more tables is that my 6 max game suffers drastically and I am seeing a huge drop in my roi as more games are added.  As I stated before, I am new to 6 max sitngoes, so adjustments will be made that I hope will fix my play.

4. What kind of a computer setup do you have for playing?

I use a PC with 2 24" screnes.  I strongly recommend at least two screnes to optimize your poker play. 

5. You have had a lot of success in DONs.  Besides obviously watching your videos, what advice would you give to somebody that wants to get really good at DONs?

I think the most important factor in becoming great at DONS is repetition.  There are so many weird bubble spots and each decision changes drastically based on opponents.  Therefore, playing tons and tons of hands and reviewing HH of bubble situations is the best way to master DON strategy.

6. What are your long term and short term poker goals?

  Long term goal is to be the sickest NL holdem player in the world.  That means crushing mtts and any sitngo at any given time.  

-Building Lockpoker into the biggest online site.

-Creating more videos on tournamentpokeredge.com that showcase what it takes to become a winning player.

Short term goals:  Beat 6 max sitngoes at 4% + 

7. Do you think you will stick to SNGs or branch off more into cash games or MTTs in the future?

I see myself moving into mtts fulltime at some point in my life, I just dont know when.   Moving to mtts would be losing 8-9 months, shit maybe the entire year, all for one score.  I am not sure I can take that on mentally at this point in my life.  some day....

8. You've recently gotten some coaching from sicko MTT player & Lock Elite Pro Casey "bigdogpckt5s" Jarzabek & had some success in MTTs.  Do you plan on starting to mix more MTTs into your schedule and do you plan on playing any live events?

Yeh, i guess my coach BIGDOG is ok at mtts. LMFAO!!!  Casey has been an amazing influence on my career and life.  He tries to make sure I dont make similar mistakes in my career that he made early on in his.  I couldn't put a dollar value on his influence, its simply been amazing.

 I wont be mixing in many more mtts because I live in the states and there is not a very good schedule of tournaments to play.  Plus, Im struggling to beat sitngoes now that dons are gone so i need to focus on my 6 man play first.  I have always been a huge advacate of table selecting into soft games.  That does not exist in my daily routine anymore, so sitting with 5 regs on a daily basis has been a recipe for a disaster.  I have spokien to you about this before and you try and explain to me to look at the big picture of things after rakeback.  I still cant see that light, SOS!

9. Why did you choose to play turbo speeds when there's way more volume in super turbos?

I choose to play turbos and wait for games because I am trying to adjust to these higher variance games.  Having played double or nothings for 4 years straight, I have gotten used to small downswings which has in turn kept my mind at ease.  If you dont know, i suffer from tilt syndrome and have been working very hard to fix this.  Playing super turbos would definatly make my days shorter and life easier as far as number of hours.  However, I am not ready for 100 buy in down swings at this point in my career.

10. Lately you have been putting in an insane amount of hours.  In a given week how many hours do you think you spend playing or studying the game of poker?  Do you think you could sustain this schedule over a 5 year span?

I think I put in roughly 60 hours a week playing poker.  Lately it has been over 80 which is insane and impossible to sustain.  Im starting to go a little crazy tbh.  Over fifty different players in my life have told me that balance in life is key to maximizing your poker potential.  Some stupid reason, I dont listen, and feel like playing every day is the right approach.  I am 100% wrong and am working to fix this problem.  I just cant stand the feeling of knowing somebody out there is grinding or studying.  It drives me nuts knowing that there are so many better players out there and this envy causes me to just play.  I maybe study the game 1-2 hrs a week whether that be reading or going over my games.  This is not enough and i wish i had more time to do this.

11. Do any of your friends that live near you play poker as well?  How do you handle all of the questions and negative views on poker for a living by non poker playing friends and acquaintances?

I have a couple of friends that play poker professionally that live within driving distance.  None of them are fulltime, but most of them could be making a living if they chose that route.  As far as people's perception of poker players,  I wish I could say that I don't care what anybody thinks about me playing poker  This would be a lie.  My parents never really supported the fact that their son was a "professional gambler".  I hate that my parents never accepted what I do for a living but I understand that poker isn't the greatest lifestyle choice.  For me, without poker I would be missing a key element in my life.  Competition.  I have always lived to compete.  I admit that I play poker for the money, 100%.  I still get pissed when I take second in a lock major or any tournament.  I literally have not had one good nights rest since that night.  Congrats Marc, well done Marc was what people were saying. I am not sure there has been a more dissapointing moment in my poker career.  Its funny how other people look at that result, but I am still disgusted and my heart is racing with anger as I type all of this.  My friends and family may not get this attitude(shit, i dont get it), but this fire is why I wake up everyday and get excited to play.  I needed something like this when my 5'7 200lb body couldnt go pro in a sport.  I wish they could understand, but its a work in progress.

12. When you aren't bangin' out SNGs or practicing the worm for the next Lock retreat, what do you like to do with your spare time?

Usually when I'm not working I enjoy watching sports or attending live ufc events.  Love to just hang with family and friends, whether that being hitting the bars or just enjoying dinner.  The truth is my life the last 5 years or so is almost all poker.  I have little balance in my life which is a leak, but i am addicted to becoming the best NL holdem player.  Even when I take days off I find myself checking lobbies and forums.  When i'm not grinding somebody else is and that is bothersome to me. They are getting better and I am not.  Simple as that.

13. What are your favorite movies and TV shows?  Who are your favorite bands/musical artists?

My favorite tv shows are xfactor and american idol as both shows allow people a shot at their dreams.  I also enjoy storage wars, auction hunters and any of the different Pawn shows.   I guess I'm a huge fan of reality shows where people are trying to make money.

MUSIC:   I love old school rap----- Geto boys, biggie, 2pac, Cormega, and NWA( and everyone that came from NWA)  to name a few.  However, when playing I usually listen to R+B and rock.  Rap gets me to amped up so a little M. Jackson and coldplay gets me through a day of grinding.

Lastly, I read this on Marc's blog and thought it should be shared with everyone: "Back when i was 12 tabling turbo dons on pokerstars, I used to have a water bottle that i would use to go the bathroom.  The problem with that was that I would put it close to my drinking water.  Yep, you guessed it!  I drank my urine twice, and it did not taste good."

Yikes.

Marc is a Lock Pro an instructor at http://www.tournamentpokeredge.com/.  You can read his blog here: http://www.tournamentpokeredge.com/author/marc-alioto/ and follow him on twitter @marcalioto.

To signup for Lock & receive the max 200% deposit bonus please click here: http://download.lockpoker.com/jaredhubbard

Look for new interviews here every Monday.  I will start by interviewing the Lock Pro team (http://lockpoker.eu/pro/).  If you have a request as to which pro you would like to see interviewed next or some questions you would like to see asked please comment below.

Thanks & GL,

Jared

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