There’s something to be said for longevity in poker. Our industry is arguably one of the toughest on the body and mind, making any player who can continue to find success day after day, week after week, month after month, and year after year somewhat of an enigma. Take Canada’s Casey bigdogpckt5s Jarzabek (pictured), who has been a member of PocketFives since 2006 and just passed $4.4 million in tracked cashes.

In October, despite putting in a lower volume, Jarzabek continued trucking along, chopping two Sunday Majors on PokerStars, the Sunday 500 and Sunday Warm-Up. The two big-time cashes came on back-to-back weekends and boosted his bankroll by about $150,000 total.

What makes Jarzabek’s feat even more impressive is his lack of volume. We talked to the longstanding poker player in the final days of November, when he told us, “My volume has been at its lowest point in five or six years because my baby boy is due the first week of December, so I’m literally playing Sundays only. I guess I’m most proud of the fact that I am still staying fairly current with the ever-changing poker world even though I have taken a great step back from the game.”

Both of his chops left $10,000 to play for and Jarzabek came away with a win in one of them, the Sunday Warm-Up on October 23rd.

Does the forthcoming newborn in any way change his approach to the game, perhaps making him more conservative? “When I am grinding a Sunday, there are not a lot of variables flying around in my mind,” Jarzabek maintained. “I just try to get into that poker zone that you have to be in to win. Everyone knows that if you’re not focused, you end up doing dumb stuff and it really does cost you poker tournaments. So, when I commit to playing for a day, I commit to it.”

Jarzabek is a three-time PocketFives Triple Crownwinner and, in the middle of 2010, was once as high as #3 in the PocketFives Online Poker Rankings. Accordingly, he’s had a chance to evaluate plenty of talent over the years. At the final table of the PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up was 4betUr3bet, the subject of a recent feature article here on PocketFives. So, it’s evaluation time.

“He played really well,” Jarzabek said of 4betUr3bet. “We were a couple of seats away from each other, so I kind of stayed out of his way and he stayed out of mine. I could tell he was playing for the win, that’s for sure. Those are the guys you want to stay away from until you’re heads-up or basically have no choice. So, I just tried to pick off the more tentative players first.”

Jarzabek is a household name here on PocketFives and one of only a handful of players to cross $4 million in tracked MTT cashes. He told us, “It’s great to be involved in poker communities and give back when you can. I know for a long time I was on the outs because of some of my unorthodox plays, and the one thing every poker player wants is a feeling of acceptance and belonging.”

He continued, “That’s why I started Tournament Poker Edge. That’s why I choose to stay active in various forums. If it’s all business and you take no sense of pride or enjoyment in what you do, then you might as well put on a suit every day and go into an office.”

He’s a little more than $500,000 away from landing his $5 million cash badge, helped in part by scores like a final table in one of the final Sunday Brawls before Black Friday for $165,000. “It will be cool,” Jarzabek said as he envisioned reaching $5 million. “It’s only a matter of time, but let’s just hope it doesn’t take two years to get to. I’m planning on taking down the $10 million guaranteed Sunday Million on PokerStars on December 18th, so that should do it. I guess I just called my shot. It seems pretty doable.”

By the way, the winner of the $10 million guaranteed PokerStars Sunday Million will pocket at least $2 million, which will be one of the largest payouts in online poker history. PocketFives is giving away five seats to the $215 tournament in an ongoing PLB competitionthat ends on December 10th. You can opt in here.

Jarzabek will soon welcome a baby boy into the world and, in case you’re not ready to have kids, here’s what you can look forward to some day: “I had to do the baby’s room, start making things baby-proof, and buy all of the stuff you need. There is a lot of work preparing for a baby to come into an un-baby-proofed house. Once little Eric gets here, I think I will fall into a routine fairly quickly. I miss the game and want to get back to the grind. There is no feeling like winning an MTT, even if it’s not for a lot of money. You get that brief moment when you feel a sense of accomplishment.”

We’ve asked Jarzabek before why he chose the name Eric, but in case you missed it, here’s his rationale: “Everyone knows we had an Eric trend a while back, which stemmed from the great Eric sheets Haber (pictured). My guys and I called everyone Eric for a year – guy or girl – but the truth of the matter is I just love the name. So, even though it came with some trepidation from Patrycja, she finally agreed to Eric, which I’m thrilled about.”

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