Marc-Andre Ladouceur Would Take Main Event Title Over $50 Million Winning Lottery Ticket. Interview by Pedro Canali

He may have an impressive $1,601,207 in live tournament winnings and a High Roller win from EPT9 Sanremo, but @Marc-Andre Ladouceur is still after his first major victory and would not even be tempted to take a $50 million winning lottery ticket over a Main Event title! Ladouceur came close two years ago, when he fell 4 places short of making the WSOP 2012 Main Event final table; he scored his second-biggest career cash at EPT11 Barcelona in August this year, and recently cashed in EPT11 London, where he talked to Pedro Canali.

Why do you play poker?

The only reason I started to play poker was to make money. That was at first - I was working full-time, I had my own business at the time. I met someone who was playing full-time online and when I saw the potential money that could be made I wanted to see if I could do it. And there was the freedom that it gives you. So money and freedom was the first reason.

Afterwards, as I started to battle online and then live tournaments came the sense of competition, the battle against some of the top of the world, both online and live. I guess that feeling of competition and accomplishment has actually taken over the money aspect.

So right now you play more for the competition than the money?

Well, I play to make money. Definitely online I have my usual grind where I play cash games and it’s fun because I’m battling some of the toughest games but I also do it to make money. But there is something very enticing about winning titles and about, I guess, recognition among your peers. Not the public recognition per se, but to be accomplished in what you do as a poker player and be recognized among your peers.

Does this mean you would rather win the Main Event than 50 million at the lottery?

Yes, for sure. Not even close.

Do you enjoy the poker lifestyle? Are there any downsides?

I think one of the downsides, and one that I myself fell into at some point is that since you’re in full control of your schedule, I think it’s easy to get a little lazy, and to get satisfied with what you have and stop working hard for it… But I love the freedom, the fact that I can make my own schedule, that I get to travel, that I can work, more or less, the hours that I want to...

So as long as you are serious about your schedule, there’s no downside, basically?

I don’t see any personally. Maybe one - if you play poker online, you’re usually by yourself in front of a computer. I know that I myself, maybe after two years into it, felt like I was missing the interactions with everyone. It could feel a little lonely at times, so that’s why I think it’s important to surround yourself with other guys that share the same things you do but also to have a group of friends outside of poker to bring you back to the real world.

You are a PokerStars Team Pro. What does it mean to you to be an ambassador for the game and how do you connect with your fans?

First of all, it was a really big recognition for me to be signed to PokerStars Team Online. PokerStars is where I first started and I haven’t played on any other site. I remember seeing some of the members who got signed and thinking, 'Wow, what if I could some day get there', so in a way for me it came to legitimize what I do as a career. To get the recognition from PokerStars was really cool.

I’m not huge on social media, I don’t post so much on Facebook anymore. I used to post more before, partly because I was part owner of a nightclub and I was using Facebook for that extent. Most of poker-related things will be through Twitter.

Is the industry listening to players and what improvements would you like to see in the future?

I think there is a need for a players’ association, I know there’s been talk about that in the recent year. Also, the way it is now, live poker is structured around three main circuits and I think that these circuits probably need to have better cooperation between each other, at least as far as the scheduling - not to overdo it, not to enter directly in competition with each other with big events.

You mentioned that you used to have your own business. What was it?

I was running a nightclub. I was living in North Carolina back then because I went to college there and I started to play online while I had the club. It was great but I was looking to go back to Montreal and I was looking to travel, and the club was really tying me down to North Carolina. I saw that in poker I could make probably the same amount, maybe more, so I just went for it.

What do you think about the RankingHero project and the goal of bringing the industry together with a combined social network and database?

Having a huge database like that is great, and connecting players to venues, even just having social users who can interact and comment on different things is awesome. It’s very likely to be needed for the industry right now. I mean, poker needs to get mainstream, and that’s a very good step towards that goal.

Which is your favorite destination for live poker and which is your favorite casino?

I think my favorite destination is Barcelona - the beach, the whole setup, with the hotel being right next to the casino, right by the beach, right by all the restaurants, all the nightclubs.. The weather’s always great as we’re usually there in August or September.

As for favorite casino… It’s pretty hard. A lot of big poker tournaments are not necessarily in casinos, they may be in other venues or conference rooms.  I thought EPT Vienna last year was amazing. It was at the Hofburg palace - you walked in the room and you couldn’t believe that you were about to play poker, it almost felt wrong to play cards in such a beautiful and grandiose place. I I thought the setup in Deauville was really cool - the casino with the huge conference room in the back was really nice, and Barcelona, too, obviously. I went to Melbourne two years ago and that was great.

As for Vegas, my favorite casino is definitely not the Rio. Usually when I’m there I stay at Palms Place, which is great, but I usually don’t spend much time in Palms Casino and I don’t really play any casino games altogether, outside of poker. Vegas is great and there’s so much to do but casino-wise, I prefer the ones in Europe.