Nicolas Levi has a very different position in poker these days. The Fedora hat is gone, as is the poker player who has achieved so much success in his career, and instead he is a businessman who you see at the live tournaments making contacts and selling the vision of his new social media site for the poker community: Ranking Hero.
I grabbed hold of his suit collar during the World Poker Tour (WPT) Main Event in Prague to ask him to reflect on 2013 and look ahead and discuss his plans for the coming year.
So is Levi a goals orientated person?
“You need to set goals to you give yourself some direction, but do it in a relaxed way so they don’t make you panic and put too much pressure on yourself, but if you don’t have goals you are sure to fail.” Said Levi.
What poker goals did he set for 2013?
“The main goal for 2013 – which I still haven’t achieved – was to win a big tournament. I have made a few final tables, which I am happy with, but I haven’t hit the big one yet. But I’m doing well – not exceedingly well – but putting some money aside and having fun.”
What about life goals?
“Ranking Hero and my Daughter takes up a lot of my time, so in 2013 I decided to withdraw from playing poker professionally, and also my sponsorship role with Winamax. These things need a lot of time and energy and you can’t be half into these things so I have decided to withdraw and work full time on Ranking Hero, and be a full time Dad.
“Becoming a father was the magical moment for me in 2013. I won’t give you gory details but we didn’t have time to get to the hospital. The midwife said, ‘if you call an ambulance you are likely to have your baby in a parking lot.’ So we had the baby at home – pure natural birth – and a few hours after it was all over we were all lying in our beds listening to classical music. It was a very magical moment.”
So looking ahead, what are the major goals of 2014?
“It will be the year of the Ranking Hero. We have partnered with many casinos in Europe and the States. We have done a lot of work in the French market, because we know it best, but if you live in the UK or US then you will have definitely heard of us by the end of 2014.
“We think Ranking Hero has the best content and we want people to learn to use it as the portal to a lot of other poker information. It’s all about changing habits. It’s the hardest thing to do, but once they change their habits and start using Ranking Hero, regularly, people will love it.”
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