Marc Karam (born August 28, 1980) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

professional

poker Poker is a family of Card game#Comparing games, comparing card games in which Card player, players betting (poker), wager over which poker hand, hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, with varying rules i ...

player. In addition to playing in major international poker tournaments, he plays online poker.

Poker career

Late in the year 2001, Karam began playing micro-stakes home games and small local tournaments. Eventually, he deposited some money online and started to build a poker bankroll. He was a fan of professional wrestling and his friends had nicknamed him "Myst", short for "Mysterio" after his favourite professional wrestler, Rey Mysterio Jr. When he began playing online he chose to play under the name, "myst". He would deposit small amounts online and play $0.50/$1.00 no limit

holdem Of the three main types of poker (hold 'em, stud and draw), the term "hold 'em" refers to a variant of poker games where community cards are used. The more popular types of hold 'em poker include: *Texas hold 'em Texas hold 'em (also known a ...

. Over the next 5 years, he moved up in stakes and built a bankroll in excess of $100,000 (USD). In early 2006, Karam won an entry into the ''2006

PokerStars PokerStars is an online poker cardroom. It is the largest real money online poker site in the world, controlling over two-thirds of the total online poker market, and can be accessed through downloadable poker clients for Windows, macOS, Androi ...

Caribbean Adventure'' (PSCA) poker tournament by qualifying online via a "satellite" tournament. Shortly after qualifying for this event, he asked for and received a six-month sabbatical from his job at ''Transit Glass & Aluminum''. During this same sabbatical, Karam qualified for the ''2006

European Poker Tour The European Poker Tour (EPT) is a series of poker Poker tournament, tournaments created by John Duthie (poker player), John Duthie, winner of the inaugural Poker Million tournament. It began in 2004 as part of the worldwide explosion in Texas ...

(EPT) Grand Final'' in

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...

through another online "satellite" tournament. He placed fourth in that tournament and quit his job to become a professional poker player. Since becoming a professional poker player, Marc has earned over $2,000,000 (USD) in major poker tournaments. He went on to place in the money at the ''4th Annual Five Star World Poker Classic'' and the July 21, 2006, No Limit Holdem event at the ''37th Annual

World Series of Poker The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada, and since 2004, sponsored by Eldorado Resorts, Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best ...

''. He then managed to place in the top 6 at the next three major tournaments he entered; ''The 2006 North American Poker Championship'', ''The 2007 Aussie Millions'', and ''The 2007 EPT Grand Final''. Karam is the only professional player to have accomplished this feat. During the ''38th Annual

'', Karam earned over $9,000 (USD) for his 33rd-place finish in the ''World Championship Heads-Up No Limit Hold'em'' event, during which he defeated 2005 ''NBC National Heads-Up'' champion

Ted Forrest Ted Forrest (born September 24, 1964) is an American professional poker player, currently residing in Las Vegas, Nevada. Tournament wins In 1992, Forrest won two tournaments at the LA Poker Classic and one at the World Poker Finals in Mashant ...

. In 2010, he entered into a sponsorship deal with online poker site,

Full Tilt Poker Full Tilt Poker is an Irish online poker card room and online casino that opened in June 2004. Formerly privately owned by Tiltware, LLC and later by the Rational Entertainment Group, the site was acquired by The Stars Group (then known as Amaya ...

References

External links

Card Player profile

Hendon Mob profileWSOP profile

Canadian Poker Player interview

Pokerlistings.com interview

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karam, Marc 1980 births Canadian people of Lebanese descent Canadian poker players Living people People from Montreal Sportspeople of Lebanese descent