Thanks guys

I'm sorry I haven't updated in ohhh... 10 months?

Lots has happened with my poker results but I don't wanna write about that.

Many may know I've been goin through very tough times personally as of late. I wanted to let people know I've been in a lot of physical pain in the last year. Nerves in my back are pushing out from my vertebrae and the pain has been excruciating. About 15 years ago I broke my Pelvis falling from the 2nd floor of my house onto concrete tiles. I was lucky to survive as I landed almost face first but I broke my pelvis in the fall. It may have never healed correctly. This, combined with bad posture and long hours sitting improperly eventually put me into this mess.

I knew what was happening about a year ago, or at least knew something was very wrong. I acted irresponsibly. I continued playing all the live tournaments I could, doing my best to curb or ignore the pain as I played. I loved the traveling, loved the grind and loved hanging out with friends on the road. I needed time off. I needed to rehab my back. After tests/x-rays/scans I was told I'm too young for back surgery. The only option was to manually move my vertebrae and hip back back into place through intense stretches/workouts.

I'm so happy to report I've really crossed a hump with it and I'm finally starting to sleep regularly again. My back has shown great progress and I feel excited to keep getting better. I've been told it might take years to be back around 90% but I plan to get there. I've decided to start booking live trips up to January. First stop - British Columbia Poker Championship.

Now the point I really wanted to get to. Thank you to everyone who has been concerned about me and asking about my progress in chats/messages/e-mail. It felt so good to get so much support. I was surprised to see that many people in the poker world who didn't know me well were even kind enough to ask about my progress. It meant a lot to me and gave me some extra strength in pushing myself to get better. It really did. I'm blessed to have a lot of great friends and my mom who was calling me daily (love ya mum). I'm also grateful for those in the poker community who have given me very kind words about my game recently. I feel humbled by the comments. Lot of people I got mad respect for.

Thanks everyone :)

Peace,
Simon Charette

Last day in Australia

It's my last day in australia. I'm in Brisbane trying to figure out what to do on a day that's pouring outside. Our original plans of hitting the waterpark have hit the muck. Ping pong and bowling to start we think.

After Melbourne I was in Adelaide for a week where I played the ANZPT main event and was eliminated on day 1. Then I spent about 10 days in Byron Bay with Serock, Fosco and Ch0ppy in a beach house we rented. Was a pretty cool surfer town. It had 3 great Thai restaurants which made me so happy (my favorite). Flying home tommorow back to TO after being overseas for just under 2 months.

Been a great trip both personally and poker-wise. I miss my place and my TV and will be happy to unload my PVR as soon as I get home. I had a bunch of videos I took in Byron Bay but the stupid little camera I bought somehow deleted everything I took in the past month or so. So I have nothing to post for now but I'll post some pictures off a friends camera when I get them.

All in all, life is good. Things are good. Hopefully not as much snow in TO as I've been hearing from friends back home.

"Getting upset about money for more than like 5 minutes is just stupid"
-Anton Wigg

Aussie Millions success. Next Adelaide

So I finished a disapointing 60th in the main event for a min-cash of 15k after being very excitied about my chances. However, I final tabled the 2k 6 max side event and finished 2nd after being chip leader a good portion of the way down. Disapointing as well but I have a 76k score to ease my pain.

This PCA-Melbourne trip has been pretty good to me. I've worked horrendous long hours and haven't had much time for fun like I had hoped. Can't complain. flyign to Adelaide tommorow for the ANZPT 2700 main event and possibly the 4k high roller tournament after that. The orignal plan was to stick around in Australia an extra 10 days after that just to enjoy ourselves but I've been feeling really run down and sick and might just return to Toronto and rest for a while. We'll see how I'm feeling then. Still got a chance or 2 to win a tournament before I go.

Peace,
Simon

Aussie Millions update

Hey I'm about 76 left in the Aussie Millions main event about 4 off the money. I got 175k in chips going into 2-4k tommorow.

Excitied and focused. 2 million for first. Gonna play my heart out on day 3 and hopefully day 4 and 5 if Iam so lucky to be there.

Peace,
Simon

Kangeroo video

Heres a video of us chilling with some kangeroos

Bahamas to Australia

Hello all. Just finished PCA in the Bahamas and am now currently in Melbourne Australia for the Aussie Millions. PCA was an amazing time and a very good trip for me overall. I min cashed in the main event for 15k and chopped a 1k side event for 77k!

Happy to ship another live tournament and I know it won't be my last for the year. Everyone in the poker world was at PCA and it's so awesome to see everyone and meet even more people. It was my 3rd year at PCA and defintely my best and I only ended up playing a total of 4 tournaments. I flew my mom in for the last few days and took time off to spend with her and I'm really happy I did.

I got really sick as soon as I arrived in Melbourne so I've only played 1 side event before the main event which I'll play 2 days from now. Super stoked for this one. I think this will be the highest value 10k I play all year (except the WSOP main of course.) Did a tour with roommates Matt Kay, Joe Serock and Mike Fosco. Met some birds and kangeroos and visited a winery. Very cool day. The next day we played drunken kickball with 2 dozen other poker players which was organized by Tony "Bond18" Dunst. Really fun. Playing very little poker this trip and pleased about it.

Will probaly upload some more pics and maybe some small videos soon.

Peace,
Simon

More NZ pics

Here's some more pictures of my trip to New Zealand. i love New Zealand. Will be back. So happy to be traveling. I wanna do tons in 2011 and hopefully paly some poker along the way. 2010 wasn't my best year but I think 2011 will be HUGE

Happy 2011!

Happy new year all!. Sorry for not updating in forever. Been super busy. After WCOOP I took time off to relax and chill. I spent most of December doing a giant road trip of New Zealand with a good friend of mine whos now living there with a teaching job. He'll be living there permanetly now and I have to say I'm at least a bit jealous.

I'll add a couple of photos from the trip on the blog. We drove from the very bottom of the south island to the very top of the North island of NZ. Saw more of New Zealand than 99.5% of people who live in the country. It was the best time ever.

Leaving Jan 7th for the PCA in the Bahamas and then 4 weeks in Australia after that! Doing the Aussie Millions and possibly an ANZPT while I'm there. Love traveling right now. I expect 2011 will see more traveling for me. Will update more. Promise.

Peace,
Simon

WCOOP Main tommorow!

"1 Time"

WCOOP has gone badly for me for the days I've been able to grind. I've been running really bad on the virtual felt but Iam super excitied for the 5200 main event tommorow. I feel like I'm gonna bring my A game to the biggest online tournament of the year. I like my chances.

Had a great time at TIFF as I always do. My favorites of the fest were Black Swan and Blue Valentine. Black Swan is a mindf**k film about a ballet dancer and Blue Valentine is a modern relationship drama. Check em out when they are released.

Haven't used a "1 time" since winning the Fallsview Poker Classic earlier this year. I'm using it now for tommorow's online session. 1 time. 1 time. 1 time.

Peace,
Simon Charette

Good news for WCOOP, Bad news for TIFF

Looks like I'll be grinding most of WCOOP after all. The TIFF lineup isn't it's best and I'll be able to play most of the WCOOP events. Excitied to try to win a WCOOP bracelet. September is going to be a crazy month. The day after the WCOOP Main event I'm flying to London for the EPT where I'll be playing live tournaments every single day.

This is my Tentative TIFF schedule:
Sat. 11th: Trust (11 AM - Gonna grind WCOOP after screening)
13th: Everything Must Go (4:30 PM), John Carpenter's The Ward (Midnight)
14th: Black Swan (10 AM) Rabbit Hole (2:30 PM) Essential Killing (9:30 PM)
15th: Blue Valentine (6:15 PM) Promises Written in Water (10:45 PM)
18th: KABOOM (12:15 PM) Cave of Forgotten Dreams (9 PM)

Should be grinding WCOOP every day I'm not seeing movies.

Peace,
Simon Charette

Pot Limit Omaha is the nuts.

Short update here. Going into hour 6 of a PLO Cash game session and I'm having such a good time. It's a really refreshing to play a game other than no limit hold em. Playing more flops and getting way more action every hand. Up about 3 buy ins at the moment but it can change quickly!

It's also nice to be able to jump into a game for 2 hours and then quit when you feel like doing something else. Tournaments can be so draining on the mind, body and spirit. I'm gonna try and put more hours into PLO cash game sessions during TIFF where my days will be rather full.

Summer Coming to an End/The T.O. Countdown

"I'm skipping most of WCOOP"
"LOL. That's just silly"

-Simon Charette and Kevin "imalucsack" Macphee (MSN convo)

Summer is coming to an end in Toronto and I hope we still get a couple more warm days to enjoy. I decided to skip the CPT event in Calgary this weeked to try and a have a relaxing fun one in Toronto. I really wanted to defend my title as "CPT Champion" but the timing of the event along with the expected prize pools aren't enticing enough to get me out. However, EPT London is a go and I'll be leaving for England on September 27th, not long after TIFF.

TIFF! I get jazzed for this every year. 10 days of movies played all across the city. Drama, comedy, action, horror, foreign, experimental; The Toronto Film Festival has every type of film you can think of and we get a lot of movies here before they play anywhere else. Only problem with TIFF is that it's scheduled right in the middle of WCOOP (World Championship of Online Poker) every year! Gah!

A man must have priorities. and TIFF takes it. I skip most of WCOOP every year to enjoy the festival. I'm a laughing stock to many of my friends in the poker world for skipping the biggest prize pools of the year. They consider it unfathomable to not take advantage of so many high equity tournaments. They might be right. However, this is an easy decision for me. I love movies and the plan is to have a successful career as a screenwriter a couple years down the line. Not to mention, I've only got 3 months left in Toronto before I begin wandering the world in search of love and meaning (and maybe a 10k tournament here and there :). I've put myself through some serious torture trying to keep up with poker and my personal life in the past. Some decisions of which I regret and some I defintely don't. Either way I was too young to understand and I think it's OK to cut myself slack for those mistakes I did make. Gotta remember there is both life equity and poker equity. They aren't the same thing.

Balance. This is the key. A word not found in most professional player's vocabulary. Balance.

Peace,
Simon Charette

The Month Without Smoking

"Cigarettes are highly addictive"
(written on any pack of cigarettes sold in Canada)

It's been about a month since I quit smoking and I'm so thankful that time has passed. This has been a HUGE goal of mine. I only smoked for 2 years but it defintely affected my breathing and overall composure. So happy to be through with it. Building new habits like working out regularly and eating properly will be the new goals for a while. I can't encourage people enough to quit, just as people have encouraged me. Thanks to all my friends for the support I've received this month on Facebook and Twitter. It was awesome and really kept me motivated.

I've played very few online sessions since quitting (skipped most of FTOPS) and they've gone quite poorly. Been too irritated or annoyed from withdrawal to play my A game and in retrospect I should have not played at all.

There is a small chance I'll go to Calgary for the CPT event but I don't think there's enough action to warrant me to go. Which is tough since I'm 1 for 1 in CPT events. The plan is still to play almost no online poker and just chill out for a while. The Toronto International Film Festival is in a few weeks time which is a great time to be in T.O. I'm pretty sure I'll travel to EPT London end of September. I've never been to London and all my friends in the poker world will be there for the entire month. I'm sure it'll be fun.

Thinking good thoughts. Peace.

Simon Charette.

Feel Good Inc. - Travel Recap and Future Plans

Jules: "I'll just walk the earth."
Vincent: "What'cha mean walk the earth?"
Jules: "You know, walk the earth, meet people... get into adventures. Like Caine from Kung Fu."
Vincent: "So you'll be a bum."
-Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta (Pulp Fiction)

10 days without smoking! Apparently this isn't much of an accomplishment as smokers often relapse months after never having a cigarette but I'm feeling confident I can follow through. I'm breathing better and feel better about myself overall.

I'm staying in Toronto for the rest of the summer up until TIFF in September (Toronto International Film Festival). TIFF is the true grind for movie-lovers like myself and I try not to miss anything that comes to town. It's tough because we get over 300 movies over 10 days in the city. It's really easy to miss a sleeper hit. Last year I sat right in front of Nicholas Cage and Werner Hertzog at the premiere of "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans." It was one of the best nights of my life. Cage's starpower is near blinding in person. Werner has to be one of the most unreal human beings on the planet, a truely fearless director.

Since I'm staying put in TO for a few months I thought I'd go over the different places I traveled to while following the poker circuit this past 6 months:
Nassau, Bahamas (PCA)
Niagara Falls, Ontario (CPT Fallsview Classic. Boom!)
Los Angeles, California (WPT)
Laurenceburg, Indiana (WPT)
Uncastle, Connecticut (NAPT)
San Remo, Italy (EPT)
Monte Carlo (EPT)
Amsterdam!
Las Vegas, Nevada (WSOP)

Fair bit of traveling and I'm far from done for the year. I've done a lot of thinking since being home and I'm pretty sure I'm going to move away from TO at the end of the year. To move... NOWHERE! With no real reason to stay put in any one spot I feel my best option is to live out of a suitcase for 6 months to a year and see parts of the world I've never before. I can still make it to all the best value live poker tournaments but I'd like to check out other spots like Australia, New York, New Zealand, London and Toyko but this is all very preliminary talk.

It's exciting to think about. I'll still be playing poker of course, but less of it for a while. Maybe I'll be inspired to write again. Maybe I'll fall in love with another country or culture. A search for some wholeness.

I hadn't planned on grinding FTOPS but Ben "NeverscaredB" Willinofsky might be staying with me for a few days next week. Could be fun with someone to grind with.

Peace,
Simon Charette

A New Phase of My Life to Begin

"Just don't think about it."
-Joseph "Floes" Serock

The WSOP has come and gone. It was a disapointing series but I really put my heart into it and I'm proud of my efforts. I made it just barely into day 2 of the main event without making a pair post-flop. That's right. I didn't make one pair nor did I even flop a draw (in 11 hours of poker!). Couldn't have run any colder. Oh well, it's just one tournament. Just happened to be the biggest and best one of the year. I'll be back again next year.

After busting from the main event I did something quite out of character. I went skydiving! Maybe not a big deal for most people but I'm deathly afraid of heights. My Vegas roommate Joe Serock told me not to think about it and just do it. Really happy I listened to him and went for it. I can proudly say I'm over my fear.

I'm making some big changes in my life (Improvements I hope) in the next couple months. I'm on day 5 of quitting smoking and I feel really good that I'll see it through this time. I'm also taking the next few months off poker with the exception of Sundays and an online session here or there. I've worked extremely hard in the last 3 years and certainly earned time for socializing and finding other things in my life that have meaning and make me happy. I wanna explore the world and parts of myself I've left dormant for too long now. My goal is to feel fulfilled and HAPPY. This will be the only time in my life I've put my mental and physical well-being ahead of everything else.

Hopefully I can return to my real passion in the next few months: Screenwriting. Most people in the poker world don't know that I graduated with a degree in Film Production and Screenwriting from York University in Toronto. I've really put my creativity on hold in the last few years to pursue poker but I'm ready to pick it back up again. I'm very grateful to have had great success in poker and I'm grateful for all the experiences and friends poker has given me. It's been a dream come true for me and I mean that with 100% honesty. But things change, I've changed, and there is a whole messload of experiences I've yet to have because I put life on hold.

I think it's time to pursue a new dream.

Peace,
Simon Charette

The World Series is Almost Over..

"It's gone by fast."
-Matt "Ch0ppy" Kay

It's so sad to look at the WSOP schedule and see there is only 2 events left. The 2500 No limit event and the Main Event (10k. The Big One!).

I've got 3 small cashes so far this summer but I was hoping for at least 1 final table. One of my best friends in poker and my roommate, Kevin Macphee final tabled the 2500 Hold em/PLO split earlier this series. Everyone living in our house had a good time railing him even though he exited early in 5th place. Kevin is extremely well rounded in poker and also made a deep run in omaha hi/lo event. I railed him in that where he sat beside Phil Hellmuth (The Other Pokerbrat) and had a few drinks on the sidelines. Heckled Phil a bit all in good fun. Phil knows I'm a big fan.

I busted the 3k triple chance in a ridiculous hand where I check-called a 4x pot shove on the flop (10k into 2400) with k-j on a k-6-7 board. I could have folded this hand and still had 80 big blinds but I'm playing to win. My opponent had 10-8 with a flush draw and got there right away. So disapointing to bust day 1 of such a good tournament but I made the right decision and that's what counts. I've been really unlucky this series. Winning what seems to be few of my all in showdowns.

The World Series of Poker is a lot like summer camp for a lot of players. Groups of friends rent houses and apartments for 6 weeks all going to the same place everyday to grind. Its hard to walk 50 feet in the Rio (WSOP host) and not run into 5-6 people you know.. Everyone has the same goal. The same dream. Everyone wants a bracelet. We all relate to each other in a way that's hard for people outside of the poker world to understand and we're all in the same place for a short time. It feels pretty amazing to me.

I'll be heading back to Toronto after the main event. Hopefully I'll be a round a few more weeks. 2500 event tommorow though. I'm pumped. 2 more shots at a bracelet!

Simon Charette

Day 2 of WSOP Event 16

I didn't last long in day 2 of event #11. I min-cashed in the tournament for about 2800 not long after I made a loose call on the bubble with ace ten and lost to ace queen which in retrospect was a bad call. It was a middle-aged man who probably just wanted to make the money. Live and learn.

However! The very next event I played is the 1.5k 6-max event and I made day 2 again! I lost half my chips in the first level after making a laydown to HighlandFox which he later told was correct. I tripled up with Aces not long after and it was smooth sailing all the way. I played spectacular and was controlling my table all the way. I have below average chips but I earned them all playing no all-in pots after the first 3 hours. Really proud of how I picked my spots all day. 148 left and we're already in the money but I'm only thinking about first place.

Another shot at a bracelet let's make this happen.

Simon Charette

Quick update, Day 2 of WSOP Event #11

I'm going into day 2 of today's 1500 no limit WSOP event. I've got 34,000 going into blinds of 600/1200 and we are 27 from the money.

Over 600k for first and most importantly the bracelet. I feel really good now (about 2 hours before restart) and expect to make day 3. If I don't, there is always Sunday tournaments online. I'm gonna play my heart out.

Good luck me. No matter what happens, life is good.

Simon Charette

Vegas home. WSOP Time.

So about a week ago I flew out to Las Vegas for the World Series of Poker. I haven't been playing much poker since Europe and this month and a half long grind of live poker is gonna mentally and physically exhausting for me. I'm playing most of the no limit hold em events (20 or so) including the main event. I really want a bracelet and there's only one time of the year to get it.

I'm living with an amazing group of players this year: Kevin MacPhee (Imalucsack), Dylan Linde (Imalucsac), Richard Grace (RJMGrace), Matt Kay (Ch0ppy), Joe Serock (Floes), Laurence Houghton (Rivermanl) and John Weekes (Jackpot786). I like our odds of someone in the house winning a bracelet.

I'm 0 for 4 in series events so far. Things haven't gone my way yet but I know they will.

Time to get hungry. Time to get it. Will update more soon.

Monte Carlo to Amsterdam

The Monte Carlo Grand Finale did not go well for me. The cards were seemingly agaisnt me and my bustout hand was questionable. I misread a situation and cold 4-bet preflop into kings. I came 5th in a 1k bounty side event in MC which was nice for a confidence booster but left down for the trip. Congrats to Andrew Chen for his 5th place finish at the Main event final table. Pretty sure most of the online community was cheering for him. Congrats as well to Matt Kay, Joe EBanks, Mike Mcdonald and Mickie Peterson for putting up some big live cashes in the side events. Mickie also shipped an ftops event for 86k! Boom.

Monte Carlo is a pretty unreal city. Everything about it is gorgeous. The weather, the women, the cars and most importantly the lifestyle. I am blessed to have the opportunity to see it even if I take it for granted at times. I also met a lot more people in Monte Carlo and it's just so awesome talking stradegy and shooting the shit with other professionals touring around. Everyone is willing to help out each other and I love hearing about people's backgrounds pre-poker.

In Amsterdam now with a group of other grinders, playing SCOOP online tournaments. Bubbled the 150r (My favorite tournament) FTOPS which hurt a lot as it was 200k for first. We rented an awesome apartment in Central Amsterdam for a few days. This is my 2nd time here and it won't be my last. Pretty burnt out from grinding poker now. Really want a few weeks off to relax. Looking forward to getting home and catching up on TV shows. Super pumped for "Treme", David Simon's new series. Only 3 weeks until Las Vegas after that for the WSOP.

Peace,
Simon Charette