Canadian poker pro Russell rdcrsn Carson (pictured) has been playing poker professionally for five years. In that time, he's done something that only three other PocketFives members have been able to accomplish: reach $5 million in online tournament cashes.Carson's rise to the top began in 2006 and he quickly became a force on the high-stakes tournament scene. His highest moment as an online pro quite possibly came in January of 2008, when he really caught the eye of the poker community. One week after Carson collected more than $110,000 for a pair of deep Sunday Major finishes on PokerStars and Full Tilt, he took down the "Grand Tournament" on Mansion Poker for $141,000. Then, a few short hours later, Carson chopped the $200 rebuy tournament on PokerStars with Jim P0KERPR033 Campbell for around $39,000 more. Campbell is another member of the $5 million club.
Aside from being one of the game's top tournament players, Carson is also an instructor at PocketFives Training, which launched last month and features many of online poker's brightest stars as trainers. The group of coaches includes recent EPT winner Ben NeverScaredB Wilinofsky, Jon apestyles Van Fleet (pictured), Alex Assassinato Fitzgerald, Grayson the_dean22 Nichols, and Mike Gags30 Gagliano, among others.Said Carson about the training site, "I'm excited for us to be paired with PocketFives. The entire MTT community always looks toward PocketFives for anything and everything, and having a training site there now will allow for a ton of growth and give us access to improving a lot of players' Hold 'em games."
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Carson sat down with PocketFives and talked about his accomplishments and how he made it to where he is today:
PocketFives: So, what does it mean to reach the $5 million milestone and join an elite club with the likes of Chris moorman1 Moorman (pictured), Steve gboro780 Gross and Jim P0KERPR033 Campbell?rdcrsn: That's an impressive club to be a part of, because all three of those dudes are sickos. I haven't really thought much about making that milestone, but it is a pretty impressive number. I'm wondering where that $5 million has all gone to right now!
PocketFives: When did you decide that you could make a living playing HSMTTs?
rdcrsn: I had a big score in February 2006 at PartyPoker. I think that gave me all the confidence to think that I could make a living at this game
PocketFives: Was it an easy transition for you? Were you in school at the time?
rdcrsn: Yeah I was in school at the time, so I guess the pressure of needing to make it work wasn't there. I also don't think failure was ever an option once I started taking it seriously. I think that's a common trait with most top players
PocketFives: Did you have any players help you along the way or did you mostly learn by doing?
rdcrsn: Definitely mainly by doing. I had one player who gave me Sklansky's book on Limit Hold 'em, and that's the game I started with at first. It took me 6-8 months until I jumped in my first tournament. I was living off the rakeback that I generated from the limit ring games basically. I was a winning player, but not by much.
PocketFives: Now that you've transitioned to tournaments, what's your best trait that makes you so successful at the table?
rdcrsn: Discipline for sure. I'm pretty good about always playing my "A" game when I sit down and play. When I do play I'm always playing a full schedule, which helps me with staying focused. If I play too few tables when I sit down to play I want to play more hands and gamble more.
PocketFives: Will your schedule change at all now that the online poker landscape has changed with the removal of U.S. players on the major sites?
rdcrsn: My schedule won't change too much. It sucks seeing the prize pools diminish, but the fields might actually be a touch softer for a bit.
PocketFives: What are your thoughts on the whole DOJ fiasco?
rdcrsn: I feel sorry for the boys next door that just lost their online income temporarily. Hopefully it's sorted out sooner than later for them. Pretty shocking how it came out of left field, and there were no indicators about this. I definitely feel it is wrong, but seems like not much can be done.
PocketFives: One last question, and it's the most important one. Who do you have winning the NHL Stanley Cup?
rdcrsn: Ha. Vancouver Canucks for sure. It's about time they get past their playoff jinx, and taking Chicago out is a great way to start that.
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