A couple of weeks ago, Simon pokerbrat13Charette (pictured) took down the PokerStars Sunday Warm-Upfor $95,000. There was no chop in sight and the field numbered 3,037. Charette told PocketFves in an exclusive interview, “I feel great. I ran extremely well in the Warm-Up. I was all-in pre-flop a lot more often than usual and won them all. I’ve had plenty of Sunday final tables this year, but mostly disappointing finishes. You should always be aiming to come in the top three spots because that’s where all the money is.”

Charette won the Full Tilt Sunday Brawl in August and followed that up with his Warm-Up win in October. As such, he has been thrilled with his recent performance: “I feel like I’ve regained much of the equity I didn’t realize at earlier final tables. The rush of first place finishes kicks ass.” He is closing in on $3.3 million in online MTT cashes.

As far as his plans for the money go, Charette said he hasn’t thought that far ahead. “I’ll never get used to dealing with those kinds of dollar figures in my life,” he commented. “I still feel uncomfortable with casino chips in my pocket and stuff like that. I think I maintained my ability to respect money and use it as a tool to make more through poker. I think it’s a tough balance for a lot of poker players to manage a lifestyle around dealing with such big figures.”

Charette has one in the money finish in a live event in the last 17 months and none outside of the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas since mid-2012. “I’ve basically taken the last two years off from traveling the live tour to explore other areas in my life I want to focus on,” Charette explained. “When I won the bracelet in 2012, I felt it was a great time to take lots of time off. I’ve played mostly on Sundays and Tuesdays. I love the freedom poker gives you to prioritize your work schedule based on your own circumstances.”

His bracelet came two years ago in a $3,000 No Limit Hold’em Six-Max event and was good for over a half-million dollars. Despite the success, however, he has turned his focus elsewhere. “The Warm-Up was the first tournament I registered for online in the past four weeks,” he noted. “It seems like poker will always be a part of me and my brain seems to grasp the game even while it continues to evolve. I never would have dreamed 10 years ago that I’d have achieved what I did.”

In 2011, Charette finished second in a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em tournament at the WSOP and quickly built a comfortable bankroll. “The vast majority of my wealth in the first few years of my career came from big online scores, but the two big scores at the World Series in 2011 and 2012 are what gave me the ability to comfortably take time off and jump back in whenever I feel like it. I predict I’ll be playing more online and live soon.”

While he has been taking time off from poker, Charette has focused on an exercise routine of walking and riding his bike. He said, “I didn’t like what traveling and live poker were doing to my hip. I broke my pelvis when I was young and it has never fully cooperated with me. With the live poker circuit and even playing online, I’ve been trying to put my physical needs before competition.”

What you probably don’t know is that Charette went to York U in Toronto for Film and Screenwriting. “I’m exploring my background in film in a few small ways,” the Warm-Up winner said. “I hope to go in that direction when I’m older and wiser. I’m still pretty obsessed with movies in my life and like writing screenplays quite a bit. I’m not convinced I’m talented enough yet, but I also think I have some mental maturity to gain before I start pitching to HBO. Having my own dramatic series on HBO or any station would be a dream come true.”

If you are interested in hiring Charette for private coaching, you can book private sessions with him at gripsed.com.

The Sunday Warm-Up runs weekly on PokerStars. If you don’t already have a PokerStars account, sign up through the links on PocketFives to get a 100% up to $600 deposit bonus and a free PocketFives t-shirt. Get started here.

Want the latest poker headlines and interviews? Follow PocketFives on Twitterand Like PocketFives on Facebook. You can also subscribe to our RSS feed.